This article appears in the September/October edition of US Lacrosse Magazine. Don’t get the mag? Join US Lacrosse today to start your subscription.

Each of the 104 players who tried out for the 2020 U.S. U19 men’s national team this summer received a spiral-bound packet. It included terminology, points of emphasis on both sides of the ball and seven non-negotiable standards.

Following these wouldn’t necessarily guarantee you a spot on the 32-man training team. But failure to adhere to any of them were a sure way to find yourself among the 72 left out.

Ohio State’s Nick Myers, who led the 2016 U.S. U19 team to a gold medal in Coquitlam, British Columbia, is back for another tour with Team USA. He shared these principles on day one.

1 Two-Handed Ground Balls

Myers urged the U.S. hopefuls to operate with a sense of urgency moving the ball off the ground, never approaching with just one hand on the stick.

2 Communication

Each player had his first name taped to the front of his helmet. They were to call out to each other by first name at all times and echo the offensive and defensive sets.

3 Don’t Be Last

This applied to everything from end line chases to timeout huddles.

4 Shots

“GTM” was the operative acronym, as in, get to the middle. Between the hashes is where Team USA thrives.

5 Throw Hard

Ear-to-ear passes. No lobs. “Hit singles,” which means to make the next pass rather than attempt risky skip feeds.

6 Feet and Fist

Defensemen who threw stick checks were less appealing than those who moved their feet, played physical with their hands and maintained sound body position.

7 Posture

How low can you go? Another defensive tenet, Myers sought players with an athletic stance (“cheetah”), head on a swivel, stick out (on ball) and stick up (off ball).