SOMETHING OLD IS NEW SAUGUS HIGH TAKES SHOT AT LACROSSE.

Byline: Nicholas Grudin Staff Writer

SANTA CLARITA - It's the oldest sport in America, and yet most Santa Clarita residents have never even seen it played.

But Saugus High School junior Greg Brown, 17, who grew up playing the sport in Virginia, is trying to change all that.

``It's as popular as baseball in northern Virginia,'' Brown said. ``It's the best of all worlds - you play it outdoors on a grass field, it's physical, and it's a skill sport - it's anything you want it to be.''

Lacrosse, best described as a mix of soccer and hockey played with a stick and a ball, was first played in 1600s by American Indians.

Brown is one of 23 players on the Saugus High School Centurions club team, which finished its first full season Tuesday.

Last year, with the help of now coach Steve Tyson, Brown and his dad spearheaded the team.

``I've had a stick since fourth grade and I missed playing the sport when I moved out here,'' Brown said. ``I was always hoping for an opportunity to play.''

Despite the Centurions' 1-8 record against other Los Angeles area teams, Tyson and Brown see burgeoning interest in the traditionally East Coast sport, which is slowly migrating west, he said.

``High school sports are very competitive and not everyone can play baseball - you have athletes that are more of a football player or hockey player types, and lacrosse is right for them,'' Tyson said.

And Tyson's roster is not all East Coast ringers.

The team included high school students from every grade, and every talent level, some of whom had never picked up a lacrosse stick in their lives.

The team practiced for two hours a day all spring and competed against teams from Sherman Oaks, West Los Angeles and elsewhere.

Across the East Coast, lacrosse is a popular high school varsity sport, and it has begun to catch on in California over the past 10 years.

Currently, California has the second-most collegiate-level lacrosse teams of any state in the country, trailing only New York.

But because of California Interscholastic Federation regulations, very few high schools have been able to create varsity teams, Tyson said.

Some high schools in the Bay Area and San Diego have already made lacrosse a sanctioned sport.

CAPTION(S):

6 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color) Saugus High's lacrosse coach, Steve Tyson, gives pointers to the team's goalie at a practice at Central Park.

(2 -- color) Saugus High lacrosse players raise their rackets before a match against Harvard-Westlake.

(3) Saugus High's lacrosse team gets in a workout at Central Park. The team, despite going 1-8 against other L.A. teams, has renewed an interest in the typically East Coast sport.

(4) Saugus High's Cory Sabotin gets a pass off between two Harvard-Westlake defenders in a recent match.

(5) A mix of soccer and hockey, lacrosse was first played by American Indians as far back as the 1600s.

(6) Saugus High's Dan Albi, left, and Harvard-Westlake's Jeff Sheedy battle for the ball during a recent match.

David R. Crane/Staff Photographer