Syracuse, N.Y. -- Sam Swart and Cody Radziewicz both earned a chance last week to get a preview of what national lacrosse officials hope will be the next big thing in their sport.
Their review?
Two thumbs up.
Swart and Radziewicz were both invited to participate in USA Lacrosse’s “Sixes” camp. That style is a 6-on-6 version of the game played outdoors.
Sixes will be the format used at The World Games 2022, a multi-sport Olympic-style event, in Birmingham, Ala., next summer. The change was made to make the sport more appealing to a wider number of countries as a potential addition to the 2028 Olympics.
Sixes is similar to indoor box lacrosse. It’s played on a smaller field (70 x 36 meters) in a condensed game length (four 8-minute quarters) and a 30-second shot clock.
Swart and Radziewicz are two strong candidates to make their respective national teams. Swart has one season left at Syracuse University, where she is one of the top midfielders in the country.
Swart was invited to the camp off of her training experience with the Team USA World Cup squad, which plays a full-field format. She also has some box lacrosse experience because ex-Orange coach Gary Gait often ran the team through that style in the fall and winter.
Radziewicz, 26, is a former standout midfielder at CBA and Johns Hopkins. He, too, is well-versed in the box game because he plays for the New York Riptide of the indoor National Lacrosse League.
Both the men’s and women’s sixes teams have a couple more training camps before the national rosters are selected. Swart and Radziewicz hope to compete at those tryouts en route to possibly making the World Cup squads.
The two players recently discussed their impressions of last week’s tryouts and the future of the format.
Q: What are your impressions of playing 6 v. 6?
Swart: “If I could describe the experience I had in one word it would be ‘fast.’ So I think when I’ve done it before, there was a lot of slowing the ball down, passing it around. This past week it was go, bam, bam. Someone scored, it’s a fast clear. I think something that’s really crazy to me that stuck out was at the end of the game some of score was like 25-20. The score was so high. I’ve never seen a lacrosse game that high. I was super-excited to see how everyone got involved, everyone scored, no matter what position you were. It was so hype.”
Radziewicz: “I enjoyed it. You have all short sticks. It’s going to be very exciting to watch. There’s going to be a lot of scoring and a lot of action. It’s high-paced. You’re going until you have nothing left in the tank. The speed of the game is definitely going to be a lot faster than field.”
Q: What rule changes stood out most to you?
Swart: “For the girls, there’s no shooting space (violation) and there’s no three-seconds. So you can park your butt right in the middle, at the risk of being hit, but there’s no three seconds. And there’s another rule that if you hit somebody in the knees and up, you are ejected from the game. So that’s something you have to be careful with.”
Radziewicz: “The biggest one I would have to say is if you miss the cage it’s going the opposite way, it’s a change of possession. That’s fun. You’ve really got to work for those great shots. That, and just kind of playing defense and offense and subbing properly and correctly and coming off when you can. You’re going to have to be able to go both ways.”
Q: What about your game lends itself to this style?
Swart: “I was so confident coming in because I’m a middie. So I play offense, I play defense, I do the (draw) circle. For once, it’s like it’s awesome to be a middie. Sometimes I feel like middies aren’t always the main position. It’s all about the people who score. Now it feels like if you’re a middie this is your go-to game. So I was out there, I was doing it all. It was really cool to see attackers learn how to play defense and defenders learn how to play attack. That was something I’ve never seen before in my life.”
Radziewicz: “My style of play, I do think I enjoy that, being a transition guy in the indoor. I think that will definitely help my case out. I’ll be able to get up and down the field and play D and then play some O. I’m looking forward to it.”
Q: Does the sport of lacrosse need a dramatic alternate version like this?
Swart: “I think this change is great. No one’s saying the (field) game is going to completely go away. But I think it’s a great add-on. I think some people, we look at lacrosse and we think, oh, there’s boys’ lacrosse. There’s girls lacrosse. Now there’s something more exciting. There’s something new. And I think this is going to keep the sport going for a really long time, for generations to come.”
Radziewicz: “It still is lacrosse. I understand that it’s not the conventional split half-field. But I definitely do think it’s going to get rid of some of that specialization of the sport where someone maybe just plays offense or someone takes faceoffs and strictly (plays) defense. I think it is going to incorporate a lot more lacrosse player aspect of it all. You’re still out there playing the game that you love, so I don’t find it too much of a change. If we can make it more inclusive for everybody else to play, I don’t see how that would be a bad thing, either.”
Q: How do you feel about your chances of making the national team?
Swart: “I think I have a pretty great chance. I’ve been playing with these girls since I was younger, playing against them, playing with them. We have good mojo going on and I think I made a lot of connections with a lot of players. I’m pretty lucky. I pretty blessed to be on anything right now.”
Radziewicz: “I would like to tell myself (he’s a longshot) so I can keep working hard to keep getting after it. I don’t like to think of myself having something yet that’s not completely official, so I always like working for that. It’s a privilege and honor. Definitely it’s an awesome feeling with all those great players playing right now.”
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