USA Lacrosse has announced that Andy Shay has been selected as the U.S. Men’s Sixes National Team head coach. Shay will lead the team at the inaugural World Lacrosse Sixes Championships, scheduled for 2026, as the U.S. gears up for the sport’s inclusion in the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.
Shay, the head men’s lacrosse coach at Yale University, previously coached the U.S. men’s sixes team to a silver medal at The World Games 2022 in Birmingham, Ala.
“Andy gained valuable experience coaching our sixes national team at The World Games in 2022 and he will bring the learnings from that event to our program” said USA Lacrosse CEO Marc Riccio. “A proven winner, he’s taken a very analytical look at the discipline and is ready to apply that knowledge to our pursuit of gold.”
“I’m honored to even be considered for this position and a chance to represent the country to coach this great game,” Shay said. “I think we learned a ton over the course of the time we spent together in Birmingham. I’d like to think we can put our best foot forward for the next go round.
“I’m a pretty patriotic guy. Just to put those colors on in practice, honestly, is somewhat emotional, but then you get out there and you’re competing against other countries – it’s a big deal. Personally, it means so much you know, I wanted another crack at it.”
Shay has been the head coach at Yale since the 2004 season and has led the Bulldogs into the NCAA tournament each of the last seven full seasons the school has played and nine times overall. His 2018 team won the NCAA championship, the school’s first NCAA men’s lacrosse title, and he was named the USILA National Coach of the Year.
Shay entered the 2024 season with 177 career victories and since 2010 has averaged more than 11 wins per season. The Bulldogs won three consecutive Ivy League tournaments from 2015 through 2017 and also won at least a share of the Ivy League regular season championship in 2010, 2017, 2018 and 2022.
Prior to coming to Yale, Shay was an assistant coach at Massachusetts and Delaware and the head coach at Morrisville (N.Y.) Junior College. Shay helped lead UMass to the NCAA quarterfinals in 2002 and 2003 and Delaware to make the NCAA tournament for just the second time in school history in 1999. At Morrisville, he went 20-17 in three years and his 1995 team was ranked No. 5 in the country.
As a player, Shay was a four-year starter and two-year captain at Le Moyne. He was an All-Empire League selection as a senior in 1994, helping the team to a league title.
Sixes is the discipline of the sport that will be utilized for the LA 28 Olympics. Sixes is a fast-paced version of the sport played on a smaller field (70 x 36 meters), with fewer players (6-v-6), a condensed game length (four 8-minute quarters) and a 30-second shot clock.
Shay has been one of the early architects of the U.S. men’s sixes program, beginning with a series of training camps in 2021 and then coaching the squad at The World Games, a multi-sport, Olympic-style event held in the summer of 2022. The U.S. went 3-0 in pool play to capture Group A and then defeated Japan in the semifinals before falling to Canada in the championship game.
The U.S. Men’s Sixes Team trains and plays using game-changing, high-performance equipment from Cascade Maverik and Warrior and best-in-class products from Enovis (sports bracing).
In addition to these partners, Gatorade, MedStar Health and Stryker are official sponsors of the U.S. National Team Program. Team training is also aided by products from Athletic Republic.
Funding for the national teams also comes from generous donors to the USA Lacrosse Foundation. Help support the team.
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 leads the U.S. National Teams Program and establishes universal standards. With more than 400,000 members across the country, USA Lacrosse unites the community of players, coaches, officials, parents, and program leaders. Working together, we inspire participation, enrich the athlete experience, and support the growth of the sport.
