6-06-2022 4:33am

LACROSSE HOF IN SPARKS

Induction Date Set for 2022 National Lacrosse Hall of Fame Ceremony

SPARKS, Md. — USA Lacrosse has announced that the induction ceremony for the National Lacrosse Hall of Fame Class of 2021 will be held on October 15, 2022 at The Grand Lodge in Hunt Valley, Md. It will be a highlight of a full weekend of lacrosse activities that will include the U.S. men’s, women’s and USA Select teams competing during the annual Fall Classic.

Due to COVID-19 concerns, no induction ceremony was held in 2020 and that year’s Hall of Fame Class had its induction ceremony postponed until 2021. The National Lacrosse Hall of Fame Committee made the decision not to elect a new class for 2022 to allow the process to get back on schedule following the induction of the Class of 2021.

The eight previously announced members of the 2021 National Lacrosse Hall of Fame class — Sheehan Stanwick Burch, Patty Daley, Jenny Levy, Ryan McClay, John Pirro (posthumous), Tony Resch, Kris Snider, and Beth Stone — will be joined by Steve Stenersen for the 2022 ceremony.

Stenersen, elected by the committee in 2021 following his announced departure from USA Lacrosse but not revealed due to his then active position with the organization, retired as president and CEO last summer.

“His legacy was bringing all of those organizations together that ultimately ended up growing the game substantially,” said Vinnie Sombrotto, chair of the Men’s Selection Committee for the National Lacrosse Hall of Fame. “From the kids leagues up to the international level, he worked tirelessly to do that.”

“He’s the rare inductee who had an impact on both games and the committees came together and felt this was the right time for Steve to be inducted,” said Pat Dillon, chair of the Women’s Selection Committee. “Where we are today with USA Lacrosse and the sport potentially on the verge of Olympic inclusion would not have happened without Steve and his leadership. Behind the scenes, I’ve seen how dedicated he was to making USA Lacrosse the organization it is today.”

Stenersen, a two-time national champion as a player at North Carolina, has served in a primary leadership role for the sport since being named executive director of The Lacrosse Foundation in 1984. In that role, he led the movement to create a unified national structure for lacrosse, ultimately resulting in the merger of eight national organizations to form USA Lacrosse. Over the last two decades plus under his leadership, USA Lacrosse invested more than $400 million into the development and infrastructure of the sport, helping it to become one of the fastest-growing team sports in the country. He is being inducted as a truly great contributor.

Tickets for the 2022 National Lacrosse Hall of Fame induction ceremony will go on sale this summer.

Nominations for candidates for the 2023 National Lacrosse Hall of Fame class will be accepted through Dec. 1, 2022. Information on the nomination process is available here.

Initiated in 1957, the National Lacrosse Hall of Fame has annually inducted individuals based on outstanding lacrosse achievement and/or contribution. The mission of the National Lacrosse Hall of Fame is to honor men and women, past and present, who by their deeds as players, coaches, officials and/or contributors, and by the example of their lives, personify the great contribution of the sport of lacrosse to our way of life. The honorees are showcased in the Richie Moran Hall of Fame gallery at USA Lacrosse headquarters in Sparks, Md.

The National Lacrosse Hall of Fame announces the addition of eight new inductees as the Class of 2021.

The 2021 inductees are: Sheehan Stanwick Burch, Patty Daley, Jenny Levy, Ryan McClay, John Pirro (posthumous), Tony Resch, Kris Snider, and Beth Stone.

The newest members will be officially inducted in a ceremony at a date to be announced in the near future.

The National Lacrosse Hall of Fame, a program of USA Lacrosse, was established in 1957 to honor men and women who by their deeds as players, coaches, officials and/or contributors, and by the example of their lives, personify the great contribution of lacrosse to our way of life.

The goal of the men's and women's selection committees is to select the absolute best of the best, within the context of an individual's era of participation. A ballot committee develops the list of annual nominees, while a 21-member voting committee finalizes the selections.

The voting group is comprised of current Hall of Fame members, current or former U.S. National Team players and coaches, elite level high school or college coaches, elite members of the officiating community, and individuals that have contributed to the growth of the sport on a national or international level. Final approval of the selectees is provided by USA Lacrosse’s Board of Directors.

Nearly 450 lacrosse greats are honored in the National Lacrosse Hall of Fame, which is located alongside the National Lacrosse Museum at the USA Lacrosse Headquarters in Sparks, Maryland.

Bios for this year’s inductees are listed below:

Sheehan Stanwick Burch
Burch will be inducted as a truly great player. She was a four-time All-American at Georgetown University, earning first team honors in both 2000 and 2001, second team status in 1999, and third team honors in 1998. Burch was the national attacker of the year in 2001, as well as a Tewaaraton Award finalist. She was also a three-time team MVP at Georgetown, and is still the school’s all-time leader in goals scored (232) and total points (330). She scored at least 50 goals in each of her four seasons, and her 75 goals, 40 assists, and 115 points continue to all rank as single-season records for the Hoyas. Burch spent three years as a member of the U.S. Women’s Elite Team (2000-2002) and two years on the U.S. Women’s Developmental Team (1998-1999). She has previously been inducted to both the USA Lacrosse Greater Baltimore Chapter Hall of Fame (2012) and the USA Lacrosse Potomac Chapter Hall of Fame (2015). Burch remains active in the sport as a television analyst and commentator.

Patty Daley
Daley will be inducted as a truly great official/contributor. For 30 years, Daley has served in training and leadership of women’s lacrosse officials at the Local, District, and National levels, while also being one of the top officials on the field. During her career, she worked four NCAA Division I national semifinal games, and 14 NCAA Division III final and semifinal games. She has also served as the lead official for championship games in the ACC, Big East, CAA, CAC, ALC, and Ivy League, among others. Daley served for many years on the USA Lacrosse Education & Training Committee as well as the organization’s National Convention Committee, and has served as a presenter and rules interpreter at both the USA Lacrosse and IWLCA Conventions for many years. She has also served as a frequent clinician at officials’ clinics. Daley was executive director of the Collegiate Women's Lacrosse Officiating Association (CWLOA) for five years, and remains active with the organization as a region coordinator. She received the IWLCA’s President’s Cup Award in 2019 and was previously inducted into USA Lacrosse Greater Baltimore Chapter Hall of Fame in 2015.

Jenny Levy
Levy will be inducted as a truly great coach. She has recorded a 373-117 record in 26 seasons at the University of North Carolina and has led the Tar Heels to NCAA national championships in 2013 and 2016. This week, her UNC squad is playing in the NCAA national semifinals for the 12th time in her career. Levy ranks third in NCAA Division I history in career coaching wins, boasts a 76.1 career winning percentage, and her 34 NCAA Tournament wins rank fifth in NCAA history. Under her guidance, North Carolina has also won six ACC Championships (2002, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021). Levy has twice been named the national coach of the year (2013, 2014), and been selected as the ACC coach of the year five times. In addition to her duties at UNC, Levy also serves currently as head coach of the U.S. Women’s National Team, a role that she has had since 2017. She was inducted previously into the USA Lacrosse Greater Baltimore Chapter Hall of Fame in 2010.

Ryan McClay
McClay will be inducted as a truly great player. Originally from Mahopac, N.Y., he was a four-time All-American defender at Cornell University, earning first team honors in 2002 and 2003, third team status in 2001, and honorable mention recognition in 2000. He also earned all-Ivy honors four times, and was selected as the Ivy League’s player of the year in 2003 and he helped the Big Red win the league championship. McClay enjoyed a seven-year professional career in Major League Lacrosse and was selected as a three-time MLL All-Star. As an international player, he was a member of the U.S. Men’s World Championship team in both 2002 and 2010, winning the gold medal both times. He was also selected to the All-World team in both of those years. McClay was previously inducted into the USA Lacrosse Hudson Valley Chapter Hall of Fame in 2010.

John Pirro
Pirro will be inducted posthumously as a truly great player. Following an All-America prep career at Huntington (N.Y.) High School, Pirro became a three-time, first team collegiate All-American at Roanoke (Va.) College. Additionally, he was twice selected as the national Division II/III defenseman of the year, winning the honor in 1976 and 1977. Pirro was chosen to play in the 1977 North-South All-Star Game. Following his collegiate career, Pirro played club lacrosse as a member of the Long Island Athletic Club, and was recognized as the USCLA’s defenseman of the year in 1978. He has been previously inducted into the USA Lacrosse Long Island Metro Chapter Hall of Fame (1995) and the USA Lacrosse Charlottesville Chapter Hall of Fame (1997), and became the first lacrosse player inducted into the Roanoke College Hall of Fame in 1987.

Tony Resch
Resch will be inducted as a truly great coach. As a head coach in National League Lacrosse, he won four league championships in eight seasons with the Philadelphia Wings, and was selected as the NLL’s coach of the year in 2001. In Major League Lacrosse, Resch piloted the Philadelphia Barrage to the MLL title in two of his four seasons, and was the league’s coach of the year in both 2006 and 2008. He has also served as a long-time MLL assistant coach for four different clubs and was a part of three additional MLL championships. Internationally, Resch served as an assistant coach for the U.S. Men’s National Team in both 2010 and 2018 and helped the team win the gold medal both times. He also served as head coach for the 2015 U.S. Men’s Indoor team which captured the bronze medal. For the past 18 years, Resch has also served as an assistant coach for the LaSalle High School boys’ team in Wyndmoor, Pa., with four state championships and two runner-up finishes. He has been previously inducted into four halls of fame, including the NLL Hall of Fame in 2008 and the Pennsylvania Hall of Fame in 2017.

Kris Snider
Snider will be inducted as a truly great contributor. Following an All-America playing career at the University of Virginia, Snider has spent four decades contributing to the growth of the sport at the youth and high school level. He is a founding member of Washington High School Boys' Lacrosse Association and served on its leadership board for 14 years. He is also a founding member of Queen Anne Youth Lacrosse, the Seattle Metro Youth Lacrosse Association, and the Washington Chapter of USA Lacrosse. On the national level, Snider served 10 years on the USA Lacrosse Board of Directors and on the Men’s Game Committee, and designed the 9/11 Memorial at USA Lacrosse headquarters. He also served as the Area Chair for boys’ lacrosse for 15 years, and coached multiple youth and high school teams for over 20 years. Snider has been previously inducted into five halls of fame, including three USA Lacrosse chapter halls of fame, as well as the Rockland County Sports Hall of Fame and the Suffern High School Hall of Fame, both located in New York.

Beth Stone
Stone will be inducted as a truly great contributor. For over 30 years, Stone has served in leadership roles on the national, regional and local levels to support women’s lacrosse. She is a past president of the USWLA High School Coaches Council and a longtime member of the USA Lacrosse High School All-America Committee. She is also a past president of the Midwest Schoolgirls Lacrosse Association, and a former chair for girls’ lacrosse in New York’s Empire State Games. She has been a member of the executive board for USA Lacrosse’s Western NY Chapter for over 20 years, and has developed coaches and players clinics in the region for many years. On the international level, Stone served as the women’s competition chair for the FIL World Championships in 2011, 2013, 2015, and 2017. She has been previously inducted into three halls of fame, and in recognition of her significant contributions, USA Lacrosse created the Beth Stone Award in 2007 to recognize the top high school senior at the annual National Tournament for girls.

About USA Lacrosse
USA Lacrosse, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation, is the governing body of men’s and women’s lacrosse in the United States, leads the U.S. National Teams Program, and establishes universal standards. With nearly 400,000 members across the country, USA Lacrosse unites the community of players, coaches, officials, parents, and program leaders. Working together, we inspire participation.