Weekly Cover: Sixes Fever

After taking a group photo, the players on the U.S. Women’s Sixes National Team broke into varied group celebrations. There was singing, dancing and hugging. They had just defeated Canada for the second time in seven weeks in a championship-clinching game, the first coming in The World Games 2025 in August.

This particular party came after the inaugural Atlas Cup at USA Lacrosse headquarters in the final weekend of September.

Though victory was secured and the weekend had come to a close, this was only the beginning of a longer journey to prepare for lacrosse on a worldwide stage.

“I think every time we get together in sixes, we’re just one step closer to getting that final product that we’ll see when the Olympics come,” Izzy Scane said at the Atlas Cup. “We won’t have the same team, we won’t have the same girls, but we’re doing something to progress the U.S.’ skill at sixes. To see it here and compete against the other countries, and see them progress as well, it’s just super beneficial for all of us to be on the field, get the fans exposed to it and get the players used to the style of play.”

The World Games and the Atlas Cup, as well as this past weekend’s World Lacrosse Super Sixes, all featured the newest discipline of lacrosse that will be played in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.

The sixes discipline was created by World Lacrosse in 2018 to “accelerate growth, increase accessibility and approachability, create greater competitive balance, and reduce cost and complexity of participation and event staging.” It is a 6-v-6 version of the sport played on a smaller, 70-by-36-meter field with four eight-minute running time quarters.

After creating sixes, World Lacrosse officially announced and launched the discipline in May 2021; nearly two months later, the International Olympic Committee granted World Lacrosse with full recognition. Lacrosse was then shortlisted for inclusion at LA28 in 2022 and approved in October 2023.

Lindsey Munday, the head women’s lacrosse coach at USC, was named the head coach for the U.S. Women’s Sixes National Team and is excited about the opportunity for players to not just represent the country but represent the sport in the Olympics.

“To be in Los Angeles, to be in BMO Stadium right next to the Coliseum in the heart of LA,” said Munday, “it’s just going to be such a cool opportunity for these players and for lacrosse fans everywhere to showcase this sport that we all love so much.”

Munday believes there is a “massive” place for sixes not just in the Olympics, but at all levels of lacrosse. She said it’s a tool for skill development for all ages, from her 10-year-old niece or the players on her USC team.

The Trojans scrimmaged the Australia Women’s Sixes National Team the Monday before the Aussies earned a silver medal at Super Sixes. Munday said her players loved the experience and that she’s sure they will ask to play more at practice.

“It’s important to be able to understand both sides of the ball,” Munday said.

The Atlas Cup was Ryan Terefenko’s first chance to participate in a sixes event, and the frame of reference he went into the weekend came from what he had heard online: it was a glorified version of the “West Genny” practice drill.

What he expected was a constant game of transition, up and down the field. While there certainly were times to push the ball, he realized there was much more to success than that.

“It was settled. It was running 22-, 23-, 24-second possessions. It was getting the ball east and west and back and forth,” he said. “In that regard, I came in thinking it was a lot of just running the field, transition, breakaways, stuff like that. I’m sure there’s some of it out there. I was surprised with just how much it is 5-on-5 lacrosse, which is fun.”

The 30-second shot clock plays to the perceived frenetic pace of sixes lacrosse, but like Terefenko, Munday said understanding the nuances of sixes is what makes teams great in the discipline.

Munday said though it isn’t easy, it is necessary to still run your offense, to be disciplined, and to work as a unit in your team’s set and not just run-and-gun it every time down the field.

“[The shot clock is] definitely fast,” she said. “It’s definitely quick, but I think the biggest thing is it’s longer than you think. That’s where we challenged our players. We need to be scorers, not just be shooters. Sometimes, people think the shot clock is running down, and you just toss it at the cage. You still have to be disciplined and wait for great opportunities. You need to not be rushed by the quick pace of the game.”

A consistent thought from several players participating in the Atlas Cup was that sixes was stioll so new, and the tournament was an opportunity for them to try it and learn. Beau Pederson, who played for the Utah Archers in the Premier Lacrosse League Championship Series, said he didn’t realize there was less physicality in the Olympic version. There was clearly more emphasis placed on the skills of the game.

Connor Shellenberger, fresh off winning the PLL’s MVP award as well as the PLL Championship with the New York Atlas, mentioned how tiring sixes was — comparing the conditioning needed to that of basketball — and that it was challenging to play defense.

He also added that he needed to start including more Canadian elements to his offensive game.

Canada women’s sixes national team runner Dylana Williams said at the Atlas Cup that she’s been playing box lacrosse since she was 3 years old, and she sees sixes as a mix between box and field.

That influence has been a big reason why the Canada men’s team has been so successful, winning each of the last three sixes tournaments: The World Games 2022, the Atlas Cup, and Super Sixes.

One thing Canada seemed to do better than anyone was substitute in transition, and Thomas McConvey credits that to their experiences playing box lacrosse.

“We all grew up playing minor lacrosse against each other,” McConvey said at the Atlas Cup. “We’re used to playing O, going back on D, and playing both ways. I think it comes from that box lacrosse style we grew up playing.”

Lacrosse will be played in the second week of LA28, from July 24-29 at Exposition Park Stadium, also known BMO Stadium. Six teams per gender will qualify and compete in a round-robin tournament with the top two finishers playing in the gold medal game and the third- and fourth-place teams playing in the bronze medal game.

With only six teams competing in the Olympics, the qualification process will be extremely important. Specifics are still being finalized, but teams will participate in continental championships in the fall of 2026 — World Lacrosse announced the 2026 Asia-Pacific Sixes Lacrosse Championships will be played from October 5-10 in Sunshine Coast, Australia — and those will serve as qualifiers for the inaugural 2027 World Lacrosse Sixes Championships.

The Sixes Championships, which will feature the top 16 men’s and women’s teams in the world, will then serve as the primary qualifier for the 2028 Summer Olympics.

After a summer and fall filled with key learning opportunities, the big tests for teams are on the horizon. For those involved like Pederson and Munday, they’re excited to get going and for the world to see how great lacrosse can be.

“This is a huge opportunity for our sport to be recognized on an international stage,” Pederson said. “If you look at the Olympics, people rally around their flags, so it will be cool to have that much coverage and that much attention on the game. You see how people rally around the hockey team and basketball team, and it becomes a major point in the athletic world. It’s going to be awesome to have lacrosse be a part of that whole experience.”

“[Lacrosse] changed my life. It is a sport I absolutely love, has given me my best friends, amazing opportunities, learned amazing lessons,” Munday said. “The sport is incredible. What these players can do is just phenomenal. To be able to showcase that in the Olympics, at the biggest venue, the biggest opportunity in sports, couldn’t be more exciting. Lacrosse deserves that. These players deserve that opportunity to showcase their skill at the very highest level.”