Lacrosse is emerging as a popular sport among teens and adults in Georgia. To answer this rising trend, the Georgia Southern Shootout lacrosse tournament will be held this weekend, beginning at 8 a.m. today at the Allen Creek Soccer Complex and continuing into the Sunday championship face-offs, which begin at 10:30 a.m.

The tournament, a first for the Hall County area according to the Lake Lanier Convention and Visitors Bureau, will range in age from elementary to high school and consist of approximately 40 teams from all over the southeast. Teams from Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee, Alabama, Louisiana, North Carolina and Virginia will be competing. More than 800 players, plus coaches, parents and onlookers, will crowd the fields at a facility that is mostly known for its soccer.

The tournament is a qualifier for the 2010 Dick’s Sporting Goods National Championship, which will be held in Tampa, Fla. in January 2011.

Stacey Dickson, president of the Lake Lanier CVB, which is playing host to the event, stated that the tournament will have a major “impact on all our municipalities.”

“We’re so pleased to recruit an event of this caliber which will bring overnight hotel stays to all of Hall County and will also open the doors to more events like it in the future. The economic impact of (the event) is estimated at just under $250,000 in local direct spending by attendees.”

Leigh Schlumper of Copperhead Lacrosse who organized the tournament, can’t say enough about Lake Lanier CVB and how big a part the organization played in choosing Hall County as the tournament location.

“We visited many sites all over the southeast and kept coming back to Hall County,” he said. “The hospitality, professionalism and enthusiasm of the Lake Lanier CVB staff made all the difference in our decision.”

Admission to the tournament is free.