Nein at USA Lacrosse Camps

FEATURED: Nein shines national spotlight on Salisbury with USA Lacrosse

By Nick Lewis, Assistant Director of Sports Information

Across his Salisbury tenure, Matt Nein has helped develop 13 national championship teams, eight individual national champions, and over 340 All-Americans. He enters his 20th year as the Assistant Director of Athletics and Campus Recreation as well as the Head of Sports Performance at SU, helping provide Sea Gull student-athletes with a top-class training experience.

Nein’s expertise was recognized this June when he was hired as a member of the strength and conditioning coaching staffs for the USA Lacrosse Men’s Sixes and Box National Teams, announced by the organization back in June. He worked with both the sixes and box teams in their opening camps.of the summer.

I'm excited about it. The opportunity to represent the United States of America with the best athletes in the world, fighting for a gold medal... you can't beat it.
Matt Nein, Assistant Director of Athletics & Head of Sports Performance
Matt understands how to communicate and how to relate to our national team athletes. These are some of the best lacrosse players on the planet, and the mindset these athletes have and the approach that these athletes take can certainly be different from being in the collegiate setting.
Dr. Jason Vescovi, USA Lacrosse VP of High Performance

It is not the first appearance in the national spotlight for the 20-year veteran of Salisbury athletics. Back in 2020, Bret Suter of the Los Angeles Rams fan page “Ramblin Fan” published a story titled “5 strength and conditioning coaches the LA Rams must interview” and suggested Nein as a top candidate. Nein was also named the National Strength & Conditioning Association (NCSA) College Strength Coach of the Year back in 2018 and has since established a presence as a sought-after public speaker in the world of sports performance.

The feedback I've received has been nothing but positive for Matt. His approach, his style, his demeanor, his perception of the contextual situations that a given team is in... [it] just speaks volumes to his professionalism and his approach. The players, the coaches, me and my staff, we're all very much appreciative that he brings that mindset to the work that needs to be done.
Vescovi on Nein's approach to training national team athletes

About the Disciplines

Box

  • The World Games for men's and women's box lacrosse are rapidly approaching, slated to run Sept. 17 - 30 in Utica, N.Y.
  • The United States took bronze in the most recent world box championships in 2019.

 

Sixes

  • The sixes game is played on a smaller field with six players on each side, four eight-minute quarters, and a 30-second shot clock - rules designed to meet goals for Olympic inclusion for lacrosse coming in 2028.
  • The U.S. debuted the sixes format in The World Games that spanned July 7-17, 2022 in Birmingham, Ala. The team secured a silver medal, with head coach Andy Shay returning to help the group build toward the inaugural World Lacrosse Sixes Championship and the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028.

As Nein continues to prepare the sixes and box national teams, the spotlight also lands on a strong Sports Performance program at Salisbury that Nein has spearheaded to help mold Sea Gull student-athletes into champions. As a prominent Sea Gull representing the university nationally, Nein hopes it continues a growth cycle for the program and department.

It's an affirmation that we are doing great things here at Salisbury University, but now to take that and show the world. That opportunity to represent the United States on international programming lets us show that we are producing the elite of the elite.
Nein on the benefits of his work with USA Lacrosse for Salisbury athletics

#GoGulls

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