SPARKS, Md. – National Lacrosse Hall of Famers Dave Pietramala and Chris Sailer will be honored at the 5th annual USA Lacrosse Foundation Gala on June 4, 2026 in New York City. The event will be held at Gotham Hall.
Launched in 2022, the USA Lacrosse Foundation Gala was created to honor the influential roles of players, coaches, fans and supporters in shaping the sport’s future – while also raising critical funds to advance initiatives that drive lacrosse’s continued growth.
Each year, the USA Lacrosse Foundation Board of Directors selects honorees who have made outstanding contributions to the game of lacrosse. Over the first four years, the Gala has raised nearly $4 million to help support USA Lacrosse initiatives and programs.
Pietramala is widely regarded as one of the best defensemen to ever play the sport and has gone onto to become one of the sport’s premier coaches. As a player at Johns Hopkins University, Pietramala was twice honored as the nation’s top defenseman, winning the Schmeisser Award, and in 1989 he won the Lt. Raymond J. Enners Award as the nation’s top overall player. He helped Johns Hopkins to a national title in 1987 and a runner-up finish in 1989.
Pietramala went on to a distinguished career with the U.S. Men’s National Team, helping the USA win gold medals in 1990 and 1994. He was named to the all-world team at both championships and in 1990 became the first defenseman to be named the MVP of the world championship.
His coaching career begin at the high school ranks in 1990 and landed his first head coaching position in 1998 at Cornell. In three seasons with the Big Red, he helped restore the program to its lofty status with a top 10 finish in 2000 when he was named the USILA National Coach of the Year.
In 2001 he returned to his alma mater at Johns Hopkins. In 20 seasons as the head coach at Hopkins, Pietramala led the Blue Jays to 18 NCAA tournament appearances, highlighted by national championships in 2005 and 2007. He became the all-time winningest coach at the storied program with a record of 207-93 in his career.
Pietramala is currently in his third season as the defensive coordinator at North Carolina, where he coaches his sons, Dominic and Nicholas, for the second time in his career. Pietramala previously coached his sons at Boys’ Latin in 2021, helping the school win the MIAA “A” championship as defensive coordinator. Before heading to UNC, he spent two seasons as the defensive coordinator at Syracuse. Earlier in his career, he served as an assistant coach at Johns Hopkins, Loyola and Penn earlier in his career. He was also an assistant coach for the 2014 U.S. Men’s National Team that won a silver medal at the world championship.
Pietramala was inducted into the National Lacrosse Hall of Fame in 2004.
It’s fitting that Sailer will be recognized during a celebration of the 100th anniversary of women’s lacrosse in the United States. Sailer has been one of the most influential figures in lacrosse throughout her lifetime and her contributions were recognized with the naming of the Chris Sailer Trail at USA Lacrosse headquarters, a pathway that honors 11 trailblazing IWLCA women’s lacrosse coaches.
Sailer spent 36 seasons as the head coach at Princeton, leading the school to 27 NCAA tournament appearances, 16 Ivy League titles and NCAA championships in 1994, 2002 and 2003. She retired with 433 career victories, the fifth most of any women’s lacrosse coach at the time of her retirement.
A 1981 graduate of Harvard, Sailer captained both the lacrosse and field hockey teams in Cambridge. She was a two-time first-team All-Ivy selection in lacrosse and was a member of the U.S. National Team. Sailer received the Radcliffe Alumni Association Award for athletic excellence and leadership her senior year at Harvard. Prior to taking her role at Princeton, Sailer was an assistant field hockey and lacrosse coach at Penn and she earned her Master’s degree from Massachusetts.
Sailer is a former chair of the Tewaaraton Trophy selection committee, a former member of the NCAA Women’s Lacrosse Committee, former president, treasurer and board member of the IWLCA and former member of the US Lacrosse Women’s Division Board of Governors. Sailer has also served on the National Lacrosse Hall of Fame Committee and on the board of directors of Harlem Lacrosse and Leadership.
Sailer was inducted into the National Lacrosse Hall of Fame in 2008.
Honorees at previous USA Lacrosse Foundation Galas have included Kelly Amonte Hiller, Kevin Corrigan, Kyle Harrison, Jenny Levy, Paul Rabil, Crista Samaras, Dom Starsia, Bill Tierney and Cindy Timchal.
About USA Lacrosse
USA Lacrosse, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation, is a Recognized Sports Organization of the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee. As the governing body of men’s and women’s lacrosse in the United States, USA Lacrosse fuels the growth, enriches the experience, and fields the best National Teams, supporting more than 425,000 members across the country.
