Prep hockey grows wheels

The first baby rolls of high school inline hockey were taken Monday night, as Youth, Incorporated staged an organizational meeting to set up a fall league for scholastic-based squads.

Seven teams sent representatives to the meeting at the Metro Public Library on Edmondson Pike. Father Ryan, Brentwood, Centennial, LaVergne and Spring Hill will be able to supplement full rosters, while Hillwood/Martin Luther King and Smyrna/Blackman will pair up for two more entries. Brentwood may field two teams, like the school does for the ice version of the sport.

Youth, Inc. director Charlie Tygard expects Franklin and perhaps two more teams from Wilson and Sumner Counties to jump on board as well.

A fall season beginning with practices in late July and ending with a tournament in mid-October is the current blueprint for the league. If a 10-team league evolves, Tygard envisions a nine-game regular season contested on Sundays primarily, but in most cases not against Tennessee Titans home games. Doubleheaders may be instituted for teams traveling long distances