Denver Outlaws captain Drew Snider is entering the 2017 season as a defending MLL champion, but he’ll add trying out for the 2018 U.S. men’s team to his plate this summer.

Snider, who previously played for Team USA in the 2015 World Indoor Lacrosse Championship, said he relishes the opportunity to suit up for his country.

“This experience has been great,” Snider said. “Any time you get to travel around and be with a bunch of lacrosse players is special. As you get out of college, the opportunities to do that diminish. To know these players has been awesome. … The majority of those guys have been at these events, so getting to know them and learning from them has been a good piece of this experience.”

Snider is one of the few lacrosse players out of Seattle to make inroads in the sport. He’s dedicated to giving back to the community where he learned the game, coaching at O’Dea High School and working with CitySide Lax, which features lacrosse clinics and leagues while providing a fun and instructional environment

As a defensive midfielder, Snider preaches the fundamentals of defending with a short stick to his players. In doing so, he’s learned more about the position himself. 

Short-Stick Stopping

• Position your body. Draw a line from the middle of one goal to the middle of the other goal to cut the field in half. “You want to shade, depending on where the ball is, that direction,” Snider said. If the ball is on the right side of the field, have your left foot up. Keep your back to one sideline and your toes facing the ball-side sideline.

• Line up your stick with your opponent. Switch hands to keep your stick up field.

• Watch his hips. Send your opponent down the side of the alley and take away his angle and shot. Stay high on his back, so if he does roll and turn, you’re there with your stick to push him underneath.

• Close the gap. Snider drops his hips and backpeddles. “If my feet are still, I have no momentum,” he said. “I turn my hips, jam and try to knock him off his dodge line.”

This article appears in the July/August edition of US Lacrosse Magazine. Don't get the mag? Join US Lacrosse today to start your subscription.