Everything You Need to Know About the Brogden Cup

SPARKS, Md. — The future stars of international lacrosse take center stage this weekend at Tierney Field, where USA Select will defend the Brogden Cup against teams from the Haudenosaunee Confederacy and Ontario.

Coming to Sparks? Watching online? Here’s everything you need to know.

IF YOU GO

Who: Haudenosaunee, Ontario and USA 
What: Brogden Cup 
When:  Oct. 25-27, 2024 
Where: USA Lacrosse (Sparks, Md.) 
Tickets: $5/day, $12/weekend (through Oct. 23) 
Walkup: $10/day, $25/weekend
Event Program: usalacrosse.com/brogdencupprogram24

HISTORY

Founded in 1988 to honor former Johns Hopkins goalie Mac Brogden, who represented the United States in the 1932 Olympics in Los Angeles, the Brogden Cup originally pitted post-collegiate club players from the United States against Canadian players.

Since 2019, Team Ontario, USA Lacrosse and the Haudenosaunee have competed for the cup to grow international competition at the youth and high school levels.

FORMAT

The Brogden Cup uses a Ryder Cup-style points system to determine a single winner encompassing all four divisions (U18 and U16 boys and girls). There are 12 teams (four each from the Haudenosaunee Nation, Ontario and United States) playing a total of 24 games over the course of three days. Each win nets a point in the overall standings.

The games are played under international rules adapted for time, with 10-minute quarters Friday and Saturday and eight-minute quarters Sunday.

IF YOU WATCH

All games will be streamed on Go Live Sports with single game ($9.99) and monthly ($39.99) passes available.

BONUS LACROSSE

As a bonus to this year's event, Sekai Youth Lacrosse from Japan will be in Sparks to compete in friendly exhibitions against the girls' teams competing for the Brogden Cup.

Bragging rights will be on the line when the USA Select U18 and U16 boys’ teams square off in a must-see exhibition Saturday (11 a.m. EDT).

These games are also available for viewing online as part of the GoLive Sports package. 

HOW THEY GOT HERE

» USA Select U16/U18 Boys’ Teams 
» USA Select U16/U18 Girls’ Teams 
» NTDP Combine Boys’ Roster 
» NTDP Combine Girls’ Roster

Nearly 1,600 athletes high school athletes across the country tried out for the USA Lacrosse National Team Development Program this year. More than 300 of them participated in the NTDP National Combine over the summer.

The three-day combine included individual and team skill development sessions (run by current and past U.S. National Team players and coaches), conditioning tests and mental performance training.

Afterward, 48 boys and 48 girls were selected to the four USA Select U16 and U18 teams vying for the Brogden Cup this weekend.

FUELING THE PIPELINE

» USA Select Players Take Aim at Next Level 
» NTDP Provides Ladder of Opportunity 
» Prove and Improve 
» All Star Coaches and Family Ties

The National Team Development Program exists as a high-performance pipeline to U.S. National Teams and an opportunity for high school and youth athletes to experience international lacrosse. That promise became fulfilled this summer when 17 of the 22 players who won a gold medal with the U.S. Women’s U20 National Team in Hong Kong had previously participated in the program, as had seven members of the U.S. Men’s U20 Training Team.

BY THE NUMBERS

54-2

USA’s record in the Brogden Cup since the advent of the National Team Development Program in 2019.

6

Consecutive games between the USA Select U18 and Team Ontario boys that have been decided by just one goal — including Sunday upsets by Ontario the last two years accounting for USA’s only Brogden Cup defeats in this era.

7

Gold medals won by members of the USA Select coaching staff. On the boys’ side, Drew Snider and Cole Kirst played for the senior and U21 teams in 2018 and 2022, respectively, while Michael Gongas was the equipment manager for the 2023 senior team. On the girls’ side, Katie Rowan Thompson was a two-time world champion (2009, 2013) as a player, while Amy Altig and Kylie Ohlmiller coached and played, respectively, for the 2022 senior team.

3

Brogden Cup championships won by Team Ontario’s Payton Cormier when the event was staged as part of the National Lacrosse Classic in Florida from 2015-17. Cormier went on to become the NCAA’s all-time leading goal scorer, setting the mark (224) as a graduate student at Virginia this year.

2

World championship tournaments under Tallis Tarbell’s belt entering the Brogden Cup. The Haudenosaunee U18 standout also represented her people in the World Lacrosse Women’s U20 Championship and World Lacrosse Box Championships over the summer.

CLIMBING THE LADDER

“I see it as a ladder. You go from U16 to U18 to U20 and then hopefully you continue climbing. When you look back off the ladder, you’ll see how far you’ve come.”

— USA Select alum Aliya Polisky, who starred at Stanford and for the gold medal-winning U.S. Women’s National Team this year

“If your goal is to make the U20 team and play for the senior men's team, U16 and U18 is an essential part of that process. It's called the development program for a reason.”

— USA Select alum Sean Creter, a faceoff specialist at Maryland and for the 2025 U.S. Men’s U20 Training Team