SPARKS, Md. – National Lacrosse Hall of Fame players and championship coaches Kelly Amonte Hiller and Dom Starsia will be honored at the fourth annual USA Lacrosse Foundation Gala on June 4 in New York City. The event will be held at Gotham Hall and will be emceed by another Hall of Famer, ESPN lacrosse analyst Sheehan Stanwick Burch.
The USA Lacrosse Foundation Gala was established to help fuel the growth of the sport. Over the first three years, the gala has raised over $2.2 million to help support USA Lacrosse initiatives and programs. This year’s goal, from attendees and those wishing to support the organization’s efforts, is $1 million.
Amonte Hiller, the head women’s lacrosse coach at Northwestern University, continued her long association with the U.S. national team program by serving as head coach for the U.S. women’s U20 team in 2024, leading the U.S. to a world championship in Hong Kong, China. It was her second world championship as a U.S. coach.
As a player, Amonte Hiller helped the U.S. capture the World Cup in 1997 and 2001 and earned all-world honors in helping the U.S. to a silver medal finish in 2005. Amonte Hiller’s 35 career goals and 67 career points in World Cup play both rank third all-time in U.S. history. She was inducted into the National Lacrosse Hall of Fame in 2012 as a truly great player.
“I played a lot of sports growing up, but my true love was lacrosse,” Amonte Hiller said. “It’s taken me places I never would have imagined. I think USA Lacrosse has done a great job of creating a platform for the U.S. national teams. In our sport, where we’re just starting to have that professional movement, the USA team is the pinnacle. For young girls to have that exposure and to see that you have the support when you travel overseas, train together and do the things we have to do to be successful, is something they’ve done a really good job of. They’ve shown we can change and evolve and that’s a strength right now.”
Amonte Hiller, a four-time All-American and two-time national champion as a player at Maryland, has been the head coach at Northwestern since 2002 and has built one of the sport’s most dominant programs. She has led the school to 20 NCAA tournament berths entering the 2025 season.
Under her leadership, Northwestern has won 56 NCAA tournament games, the most in the sport’s history, and eight national championships, the second highest total in the sport’s history. Northwestern won its most recent NCAA championship in 2023 when the Wildcats defeated Boston College in the championship game. The school won five straight championships from 2005 to 2009 and added titles in 2011 and 2012.
Starsia led the University of Virginia to four national championships and won 375 games, third all-time in NCAA Division I victories, over his 34-year head coaching career at Brown and Virginia.
“My family has been an integral part of everything that goes on in my life, but certainly much of my life has been defined by my relationship with the game,” Starsia said. “There’s a deeper meaning here than just a sport. When I picked up a stick back in 1971, we were using wood in those days, it just felt like this was exactly the thing I was supposed to be doing. It just felt right in my hands.”
Starsia became the head coach at Brown, his alma mater, in 1982 and led the Bears to 101 victories in 10 seasons. Brown won two Ivy League titles under his tenure and reached the NCAA tournament five of his final six seasons, including three straight NCAA quarterfinal trips from 1990 to 1992.
In 1993, Starsia became the head coach at Virginia. He won 274 games in 24 years and in 1999 won the first of his four national titles at Virginia – ending a 27-year drought at the school. He led the Cavaliers to the NCAA tournament 21 times in his career and added national titles in 2003, 2006 and 2011.
He was inducted into the National Lacrosse Hall of Fame in 2008 as a truly great coach. He was later named to the IMLCA Hall of Fame in 2020.
A former USA Lacrosse Board of Directors member, Starsia picked up the sport when he arrived at Brown as a football player. He earned third team All-America honors his junior and senior seasons and was first team All-Ivy League both years. He was a captain for Brown’s 1974 NCAA tournament team. He went on to play for the U.S. men’s national team in 1978, winning a silver medal, and was named the Player of the Year in the U.S. Club Lacrosse Association in 1979.
Since leaving Virginia, Starsia has stayed active in the sport, coaching at both the high school and professional levels. He is a member of the Board of Directors for Harlem Lacrosse and also serves as an analyst for University of Richmond men’s lacrosse games on ESPN networks.
“USA Lacrosse has the larger view of the game in mind,” Starsia said. “It provides the hands-on help where it can with all of these different organizations within the game, but I think everybody goes around with a sense of confidence knowing that somebody is watching out for the welfare of the game overall. I think it’s really important and I think we’d be lost without USA Lacrosse.”
Honorees at previous USA Lacrosse Foundation Galas have included Kevin Corrigan, Kyle Harrison, Jenny Levy, Paul Rabil, Crista Samaras, Bill Tierney and Cindy Timchal.
About USA Lacrosse
USA Lacrosse, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation, is a Recognized Sports Organization of the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee. As the governing body of men’s and women’s lacrosse in the United States, USA Lacrosse leads the U.S. National Teams Program and establishes universal standards. With more than 425,000 members across the country, USA Lacrosse unites the community of players, coaches, officials, parents, and program leaders. Working together, we inspire participation, enrich the athlete experience, and support the growth of the sport.
