Nate Snyder Earns World Lacrosse Men’s Championship Gold Medal with Team USA

On Saturday July 1, 2023, the USA Lacrosse team won their gold medal match 10-7 against Canada to win in the World Lacrosse Men’s Championship and at the helm of Team USA was Sun Devil Athletics' very own Nathan Snyder as Team Manager. 

Snyder is the Director of the Annual Fund and has been a part of the SDA family since February of 2020. Not only is he part of the Sun Devil Family, he is part of the Sun Devil Lacrosse family as well.

Head Coach Taryn VanThof says that she is very lucky to have someone like Nate in the athletic department, “It’s great to have someone with such immense experience at a national level here at Arizona State. It’s not often where you get to find someone within your athletic department, outside of your coaching staff, that has that experience. He’s a great resource and connection to not just me as a coach, but to our student athletes, our parents and our alumni as well.”

In 2018, Snyder was selected to be the Team manager for the USA Team and he hasn’t looked back since.

Nate grew up in a small town of 200 people where people were “pretty much born with a lacrosse stick in your hand,” so it’s safe to say that lacrosse is in his blood. Although he wasn’t the greatest player of the game, according to Nate himself, he still made sure that lacrosse was a constant in his life. In college, Nate started to work for a professional team in Rochester, New York. Throughout his time with that team, he worked all sorts of positions from ticketing intern, all the way up to Vice President of Business Operations. From college to now, Nate has always had an impactful, hands-on role in the lacrosse world. Starting as ticketing intern in Rochester, to National Sales Manager for Powell Lacrosse, and now to Team Manager for USA Lacrosse.

Winning the gold medal with Team USA is something that Nate will never forget. During the championship game, emotions were running at full speed. “I remember the championship game, they started playing the anthem and tears just rolled down my face,” said Snyder. The feelings, the moment, and the memories from the tournament are now moments that Nate will never forget, like when he got married or when he had his kids. He even says now, almost two weeks later, the memories are still continuously played in his head. 

Not only was this win a giant milestone for Nate personally, but it was also a big milestone for the competitive sport itself. More times than not, these types of games, on this level, are played in the North East, not the West Coast. With the games on the West Coast, Nate said that this allows people who have not been around the game come see the sport, and they start to see the fast pace, the speed, and the opportunities that exist, which Nate says is “huge for the game.”

Coach VanThof is also ecstatic that the game is traveling out west. “The win was huge and having the games out on the West Coast was an even more exciting time for us. We are expanding, we are growing, the game is ever evolving,” says VanThof. “I think the more people that see it and get to hear about it, the better it is for our game.”

Nate’s win with Team USA will help Sun Devil Women’s Lacrosse flourish now, and hopefully in the future. With his involvement and understanding at a high level, Nate understands the needs for Coach Taryn VanThof’s program and it gives him the opportunity to talk to people and convey these needs easier. Nate’s ability to speak the game gives him a unique insight that allows him to talk to and connect with the parents of our players, who happen to be the main portion of our Lacrosse program’s donor base. Coach VanThof speaks highly of Snyder, saying “He is an avid Sun Devil Lacrosse fan. He is at every home game, and he’s always checking in.” VanThof also reiterates the fact that Snyder is well known with the parents and they highly respect them.

At the end of the day, Nate said that even though he was excited for himself personally, he was also “excited to represent ASU” at the games and he is excited for the future of the ASU Lacrosse program.