With Olympics on the Horizon, U.S. Teams Hone in on Sixes

The United States settled for silver on home soil when sixes — the fast-paced, 6-v-6 discipline of lacrosse — debuted at The World Games in 2022.

Three years later, the Americans are determined to bring home gold from Chengdu, China, in The World Games 2025. The lacrosse portion of the program takes place Aug. 7-11.

“We want to win at the end of the day,” said Lindsey Munday, head coach of the U.S. Women’s Sixes National Team. “We’re Team USA, and that’s the goal. And anything less, that’s not where we want to be. But we want to do it the right way.”

Figuring out the right way has been the goal of sixes coaches for both the U.S. women and men. The men won’t face competition again until an international event at USA Lacrosse in September, followed by Super Sixes in Canada in October.

“We learn a million things about this game every time we go out — where we want to attack from, how we want to play, how to sub,” said Andy Shay, head coach of the U.S. Men’s Sixes National Team. “It's an entirely new discipline, obviously, so it doesn't really behave like field lacrosse like we're used to. And there are little things different from box as well, so it's been eye-opening the entire process.”

The women met for a training camp in early June, after which their pool of 26 players was to be trimmed to the final sixes roster of 12. The dozen will be together in Los Angeles from Aug. 1-3 to make final preparations for The World Games.

“The best part about lacrosse right now is there's so much competition,” Munday said. “There are so many great players and so it really is just finding the unit that can play this together. The chemistry, setting others up for success, being great teammates — those are all things that are going to be at the forefront because there are so many talented players out there, but it's about how you can play as a unit.”

The U.S. women will play in Pool B, which includes Australia, Czechia and Ireland. The top two teams in each pool advance to the semifinals.

“We want to be the best, but we know there have been times where we haven’t been,” Munday said. “And so we do have to acknowledge that. We’re not going to take anyone lightly. We need to show up and prove it to everybody, but to ourselves as well.”

The U.S. women went 3-0 under Munday at the USA Lacrosse Experience in Indianapolis last October, topping Colombia, Puerto Rico and Great Britian. The U.S. also beat Canada by a goal in the 2023 Super Sixes in Ontario.

“I don't think there's too much need to look in the past,” Munday said. “It’s really about being present and making sure that that we play the style that we want to play.”

The sixes format dictates finding certain types of players for the up-and-down game that has no draw controls/faceoffs, instead alternating possession after goals, and uses a 30-second shot clock.

“Decision making is first and foremost,” Munday said. “Players have to be really dynamic. They have to be able to play defense, even the best attackers in the world. And I know that they can. They have to be versatile and they have to be great decision makers while playing fun and playing free and playing themselves.”

The future for sixes, particularly with it being the discipline that will be played at the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles, is high in everyone’s mind. More and more college players are getting exposure to it with their teams incorporating sixes into their practices. The U.S. teams are constantly studying how to peak in three years.

“There's a lot of other people involved,” Shay said. “I just got off the phone with Chris Wojcik at Notre Dame and we were talking what this looks like and I’ve talked to Sean Kirwin [at Dartmouth] about it. I've asked anybody that'll take my phone call.”

Sorting out how to substitute most effectively and shifting to initiate the offense lower have been part of the men’s learning curve.

“It ends up being mimicry of the Canadians because they're used to playing box,” Shay said. “It is what it is, and they've done it for that much longer so why would we mess around with our view of it? We’re trying to keep the trial and error to a minimum.”

With three different lacrosse disciplines, players must switch gears. Many of the men’s pool of sixes players will come from the Premier Lacrosse League. With 23 of the 26 players invited to the U.S. women’s sixes camp also a part of the selection pool for the U.S. Women’s Field National Team that is playing in the Pan-American Lacrosse Association Championships at the end of June, there is a quick turnaround.

“Playing more isn’t a bad thing,” Munday said. “It’s just making sure that they have enough time to recover.”

Each chance to play the new sixes discipline helps. They are tests of where the U.S. stands. The World Games are the next chance.

“Having this 2028 in LA, that's kind of the North Star,” said Munday, who is the head coach at USC. “But at the end of the day, you have to be in the moment. A world championship is a world championship and The World Games and all these events that we have prior to the Olympics are important. You can't lose sight of that.”