Steven Brooks (lacrosse)

Steven Brooks, born in 1984, is an American former professional lacrosse player who has gone on to coach at the top level of the sport. He grew up in Libertyville, Illinois, spent a postgraduate year at Bridgton Academy and then played midfield at Syracuse University from 2003 to 2008, where he won NCAA championships in 2004 and 2008, earned first-team All-American honours and took the McLaughlin Award as the nation's best midfielder. The Chicago Machine chose him sixth overall in the 2008 Major League Lacrosse draft, and he later won two MLL titles before retiring from the Premier Lacrosse League's New York Atlas in 2019. He then became the league's first former player to move into coaching, helping the Atlas to their 2025 championship and taking over the Carolina Chaos as head coach in 2026. He has been inducted into several halls of fame.