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Ally Kennedy received a pass from teammate Bri Carrasquillo on the left side of goal line extended, dodged past defender Tianna Wallpher and charged toward the crease. She faked high and shot low, scoring on goalie Caylee Waters.
Waters wasted no time wallowing. She pivoted on her right knee to face the goal, where she scooped up the ball, leaped to two feet, peered up the field and sent a parabolic pass to Madison Ahern streaking down the field. Ahern flicked a pass to Kasey Choma, who put the ball in the back of the opposite net. It took just 15 seconds for the entire sequence to unfold.
This is World Lacrosse Sixes, a new fast-paced discipline of the sport meant to position it for a return to the Olympic Games and make it more accessible globally. It requires fewer players, can be played on smaller fields and is shorter in duration than the traditional disciplines contested in quadrennial world championships.
“The game you’ve always loved just found a new gear,” World Lacrosse touted upon launching the Sixes brand in May.
The rules for men and women are very similar but preserve the basic gender differences while emphasizing tempo, speed, scoring and less specialization. It’s 6v6 with a 30-second shot clock on a 70-by-36 meter field. Quarters are eight minutes long. Everyone plays both sides of the field with subs on the fly. Goalies initiate play after goals are scored, with draws only at the start of each quarter. There’s no backup rule for shots. Possession changes out of bounds based on which team last touched the ball.
USA Lacrosse held its first-ever Sixes evaluation camps this summer, sampling more than 70 men’s and women’s players who hope to make a U.S. roster for the discipline’s debut at the World Games in 2022. “Sixes is so engaging,” Waters said. “The play doesn’t stop.”
Dozens of countries are diving into a discipline that was created to grow the game internationally, eliminate barriers to entry for lacrosse, appeal to the next generation of sports fans and create a better competitive balance around the world.
Sixes originated from the Blue Skies Working Group. Chaired by former USA Lacrosse CEO Steve Stenersen, the group was tasked in 2018 with developing trial rules for a format of lacrosse featuring smaller fields, shorter games and smaller roster sizes. World Lacrosse approved the rules for a 6v6 discipline — a hybrid of box and field lacrosse — in late 2020.
“Just like those of our current field and box disciplines, which will remain essential components of our international competition platform, the rules of World Lacrosse Sixes will continue to evolve,” said Stenersen, who is also the vice president of World Lacrosse.
USA Lacrosse concluded its first Sixes evaluation camp in July with a scrimmage in which the U.S. men and women alternated quarters — the mostly unified rules and format make it that easy — and cheered for each other. Then they swapped sticks just for the fun of it.
World Lacrosse Sixes will be on full display for the first time at the 2022 World Games, hosted by the International World Games Association in Birmingham, Ala. Six years later, advocates hope that this new discipline will be included in the Olympic program at the 2028 Los Angeles Games. World Lacrosse reached another milestone July 20 when the International Olympic Committee voted to grant it full recognition status during its 138th session in Tokyo.
World Lacrosse CEO Jim Scherr has the 2028 Olympic Games in mind, but said several more hurdles remain. He noted that the standard 18- to 23-player rosters would not complement an Olympic program. Sixes uses 10-player rosters. The small-sided discipline has precedent among Olympic sports — Rugby has Rugby 7s, netball developed Fast5s, cricket introduced Twenty20 Cricket, field hockey started Hockey 5s and 3x3 basketball was just added.
With Sixes, there’s now a version of lacrosse that fits within the 21st-century Olympic framework.
“If that’s our vehicle to get to the Olympics, then I think we should be supportive of it,” U.S. team star Kayla Treanor said after competing in a trial rule scrimmage in 2019.
World Lacrosse is planning up to five different Sixes competitions before the World Games. The 2021 PALA Sixes Cup Sept. 3-5 in Auburndale, Fla., will include men’s and women’s teams from Argentina, Barbados, Colombia, the Iroquois Confederacy, Jamaica, Mexico, Panama, Peru, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. On Oct. 23-24, World Lacrosse will hold a “Super Sixes” men’s and women’s event at USA Lacrosse featuring Canada, the Iroquois Nationals and the U.S.
The U.S. got a crash course in the rules and speed of Sixes with evaluation camps in Sparks, Md., in July and in Lake Placid, N.Y., in August. Fans were drawn to the excitement during exhibitions at USA Lacrosse Youth Nationals in Frederica, Del., and the Lake Placid Summit Classic. Players ran up and down the small-sided field, subbing in and out within minutes. “I did maybe like one or two up-and-backs,” U.S. hopeful Sam Apuzzo said. “At that point, you’re like, ‘Gotta get off.’”
The word most associated with Sixes was “fun.” Games reminded players of “West Genesee” drills from their youth practices and others of pick-up games in the backyard. They were all gassed.
“I’m in good shape, but I didn’t expect it to be that tiring,” said Bryan Costabile, who won a gold medal with the 2016 U.S. U19 men’s team.
There are skeptics, of course — purists who say Sixes deviates too far from existing disciplines. Yale men’s lacrosse coach Andy Shay is not among them. “I don’t know what the arguments are against it,” said Shay, who coached at both evaluation camps. “It’s a hybrid of box and field, which should satisfy most of the continent. It’s a version of the game that will allow us to get on sport’s biggest stage. I don’t know why we wouldn’t be OK with that.”
Justin Feil contributed to this article.