West's Best Take Center Stage at Adrenaline All-American Games

FRISCO, Texas — The 16th-annual Adrenaline All-American Games will celebrate the best high school lacrosse seniors from the West, with second edition of the Futures Games showcasing the top incoming freshmen Sunday at The Star in Frisco, Texas.

The boys’ seniors game commenced in 2011. The girls’ contest was introduced in 2018. This year’s edition will feature approximately 120 seniors divided among four teams, while around 90 Futures competitors comprise four squads.

“The All-American Game continues to evolve on many levels,” said Jono Zissi, co-founder of Adrenaline Lacrosse.  “[But] many things remain constant in the form of the venue being first class, the banquet dinner being elite with the Hall of Fame inductee, tremendous speakers and the best talent west of the Mississippi.”

Zissi is proud that players from various states compete in the game.

“Every year we have been consistent with the diversity of the game always somewhere between 10-15 states represented,” he said. “Years past we’ve had [players from] Kansas and Nebraska. This year, we have Idaho and North Dakota represented, which continues to highlight the growth of the game.”

Dallas Cowboys practice facility The Star will again host the two-day extravaganza, culminating with four action-packed games, televised by ESPN+, on Sunday.  “Our first year at The Star was 2017,” Zissi said. ”It is an incredible facility and having everything onsite for the families with regards to its restaurants, nightlife, shopping, hotel, etc., makes it a home run.”

“ESPN absolutely legitimizes the event and their quality of production along with the audio-visual tech crew of The Star are second to none,” he added. “It also gives families, friends and former and future coaches a chance to watch their players.”

The Futures Games — girls' contest followed by the boys' game — get the action started Sunday afternoon before the seniors take center stage in a pair of evening matchups.

Most players and their families arrive Friday evening, lodging at the Frisco Omni Hotel, which connects to The Star.  Saturday’s events for the seniors feature photoshoots and press conference-type interview sessions, while Futures participants get an instructional visit to the Lacrosse Barn in nearby Addison.

An evening banquet celebrates the history of the event and includes a Hall of Fame ceremony, alternating inductees annually by gender. This year’s honoree is Matt Brown, a fixture at Denver as a player (2002-05) and coaching staff member who took over for Bill Tierney as head coach three years ago. ”Matt has truly been one of the foundational people in growing the game in Colorado,” Zissi said. ”He started Denver Elite, which was the premiere club in Colorado for over a decade.”

The keynote speaker for this year’s banquet is Adrenaline-sponsored athlete Shawn Lyght, a member of this year’s NCAA Division I runner-up Notre Dame. Lyght, a 2026 first-team All-American, made history as the first defenseman in NCAA men’s lacrosse to win the prestigious Tewaaraton Award (founded in 2001), given to the best player in the country.

A junior and two-time national defensive player of the year, Lyght was also just one of two collegiate lacrosse players from the 2026 season to be invited to the U.S. Men’s National Team training camp last month in Charlotte, N.C.

Sunday morning begins with player walk-throughs before the star-studded competition gets underway. The All-American Games annually involve some of the best coaches across the country, and this year is no exception.

Boys’ Senior Game coaches will be Michael Mabry (One Play Development), Jason Leneau (Dallas St. Mark’s) and Kevin Cooper (Bishop’s High School in La Jolla, Calif.) for the North squad.  Andy Kay (MICDS, a St. Louis-area high school), Kevin Banages (Team Illinois) and Trevor Tierney (Denver Elite) will serve as coaches for the South unit.

The Girls’ Senior North squad will be coached by Andrew Lecker (Lacrosse Monkey), Ava Valdez (Denver) and Anna Kristynik (Brown). Leading the South team will be Genesis Lucero (Outlaw Lacrosse), Shae Hagans (Jacksonville) as well as rising collegiate sophomores Lily Gum (Georgetown) and Charlotte Schultz (Harvard).

Gum and Schultz each played in last year’s Seniors game and both are Hockaday High School (Dallas) alums who won four state championships before embarking on their collegiate careers.

Boys’ Futures Game coaches will be Ryan Wellner (Notre Dame), Jim Mitchell (Princeton), Ron Caputo (Duke) and Jules Heningburg (founder of Lax lacrosse and the lead analyst for the ESPN broadcast) for the North.  Sean Kirwan (Dartmouth), Dave Metzbower (Fairfield), Matt Nunes (Virginia) and Chris Perzinski (Jacksonville) will guide the South unit.

Hagans, Valdez and Kristynik will coach the Futures Game North Girls while Lucero, Gum and Schultz will guide the Futures Game South Girls team.

In a North vs. South format, last year the North girls’ senior squad bolted to a 10-2 lead enroute to a 20-12 victory, while the South senior boys scored with 33 seconds left to emerge with a thrilling 10-9 win.

At halftime of that contest, Luke Stickler (Loyola, Calif./Johns’ Hopkins) blasted a 117-mph laser, establishing a new Adrenaline All-American Game record in the fastest shot competition, which has become a popular event.

“This has been a fun wrinkle in between periods and is always a surprise to see who wins,” Zissi said. ”It’s never who you would expect.”

In 2025, Adrenaline unveiled the first edition of the Futures Game for incoming high school freshmen. A year ago, Team South dominated the boys’ game with a 13-4 win while the North came away with a 21-15 triumph in the girls’ contest.

Episcopal School of Dallas then-incoming freshman Charlie Swann made history, scoring the first goal in Adrenaline Futures competition, and went on to win the fastest shot competition topping out with a 102-mph mark.  On the girls’ side, Dripping Springs (Texas) incoming freshman hit 70 mph to win the fastest shot event.

The Futures Games were a tremendous success a year ago and provides the next generation an opportunity to visit the Lacrosse Barn, a massive world-class lacrosse training facility just south of The Star.  It opened June 1, 2024, and was built by lacrosse athletes exclusively for lacrosse.

“To bring the best middle schoolers together to work with 10 of the top NCAA Division I coaches in an intimate environment for two days is an unreal experience,” Zissi said.  “Add in the venues of both the Lacrosse Barn and The Star — what a dream for a youth lacrosse player. They also get to play on ESPN and the part I love the most is seeing them at the banquet all dressed up next to the senior All-Americans creating that aspirational piece to keep them striving. It also shows them the blueprint that if you stay the course, you too can achieve your goals like these seniors.”

The fun-filled weekend is enjoyed by all.

“The seniors love all of the gear,” said Zissi.  “They love the media day and the overall pageantry and camaraderie of the weekend.  Many of these players have played together over the years and they all understand their role as future ambassadors for the non-traditional players as the majority head east in the fall. Of course, they all love to compete as well, and once the whistle blows game time, friendships get put on hold.”