Tennessee – great trip and awesome city to work with talent in fall/winter 2016!

The Sport:

• The sport is growing in the state of Tennessee; players are putting the football helmet down due to concussions and picking up the lacrosse stick at the grassroots level. One of the problems with the growth of the sport is that players play soccer during the same time; as a result, they compete over the same type of players.
• Players are physically mature and usually come from a grid iron/football background. From watching practice and observing one could see the only thing they truly lacked is hand eye coordination that the east coast boys have automatically.
  • At the faceoff position, we were extremely impressed
    • Players were focused, attentive, hungry, and tough
• The facilities down south we’re unreal to witness and tour!  Since football is king; alumni have invested in HS football facilities big time!  To the naked eye the HS’s reminded us more like a prep or community college then an actual Highschool.

The Culture:

• Getting off the plane two things hit you at once; it’s quiet and dry.  Nashville TN is the music capital of the world and it can easily been seen by all the displays and hardware on the walls in the airport – country and live music rule.
• Southern Hospitality lives on in Nashville TN!  People are very friendly, talkative, and enjoy entertaining guest w/ food, drink, and conversation. There are alot of cowboy hats and boots in Nashville TN!
• As we mentioned; it’s hot an dry. During the day the sunlight is strong and at night it cools off immensely.  It’s like the east coast fall but to a major extreme. Bring some shorts and a great jacket!
• Everything moves a little bit slower in Nashville TN to our liking. The roads are wide – 4-5 cars across – and no tolls in Nashville TN!
• Music is king. On broadway and surrounding the city every bar/water hole has a cover band. To a east coast spectator it was amazing to see how good the live music was.

Cool Side Notes:

• SEC Football rules in the south!
  • People do attend Titan games, but SEC and college football is a huge focus.
    • The Nashville Predators could be more popular then any sports team in the city!
• Finish your food on your plate!
  • It’s common curtesy to finish everything in the south; it’s rude to waste food.
• Guns are a large part of the culture in the south.
  • Students bring guns to school (in case/bag) and check them in like a car or book on the east coast
    • A ex marine at the school runs the shooting range and keeps track of everything
      • How about that!?!
• Pro and ex football players work in the workout gyms in the south
  • Can you imagine being a HS player and working out with an ex pro during the day?

Have a questions or comment? Check out the photos below and let us know if we forgot anything.

~Pop