GLENDALE, CO. - The U.S. Women’s National Team 15s will bring a full training squad of 51 players to Glendale, CO in advance of its historic matchup with Barbarians F.C. on April 26 at Infinity Park. This will be the first time a Barbarians side has ever faced a USA Rugby National Team.
The group features a mix of capped and uncapped players chosen from performances in the Eagles’ new Regional Training Program which successfully kicked off this year. From the program, players and coaches have had more frequent interactions which has allowed for an open and consistent selection process.
“Everyone has been incredibly busy since the November Internationals. It’s been a lot of fun with a lot of hard work and effort from the players, staff and community,” said Head Coach Rob Cain. "The regional rugby training gave our players a continuous opportunity to show us what they can do, explore and interpret new ideas together. This inner competition has been great from everyone, not allowing anyone to be comfortable with their previous exploits and place a real focus on the here and now. All of this has culminated in their invites for this exciting week ahead.
“Seeing players express themselves while having the opportunity to develop and self discover new ideas in the Women's Eagles 15s environment, away from pressures of test match weeks, will continue to be hugely beneficial on our road into and beyond 2019. 2018 was a great opportunity to see where we were and 2019 will continue to show more signs of our intent as a team with our first opportunity against a very experienced and talented Barbarians squad.”
LEARN MORE ABOUT REGIONAL TRAINING PROGRAM HERE
In total, 27 athletes come from the recently announced Women’s Eagles 2019 Performance Squad and 21 return from the November Internationals 2018 where the USA claimed wins over England Academy (contested as the Women’s Selects) and Ireland, after awarding 17 caps to a new generation of athletes.
Women’s Sevens players Ashlee Byrge, Neariah Persinger and 2016 Olympian Bui Baravilala are all named, along with a collection of 15s players who haven’t featured in some time. Among them are Tess Feury, Christiane Pheil and Hope Rogers — to name a few.
The training squad also features six players who recently featured with USA Rugby’s age-grade or developmental programs including High School All-American Winter Camp attendee Destiny Arena and Collegiate All-American Summer Camp attendees Kayla Hunkin-Clark, Maya Learned, Jenni Kronish and Corinne Heavner. Falcons players Shamira Robles and Paige Stathopoulos are also included.
The Women’s Eagles will assemble tomorrow for their first high performance camp of 2019. All players chosen will see competitive playing time with an intrasquad scrimmage taking place during camp and starters for the Barbarians game named thereafter.
Though test caps will not be awarded for the Barbarians game, athletes will play some of the top women’s rugby players from across the globe as part of the Baa-Baas all-star style team. The Barbarians will bring talent from multiple countries including two former Eagles players in 2016 Olympian Carmen Farmer and 2014 Women’s Rugby World Cup player Hannah Stolba.
Kickoff between the Eagles and Barbarians is set for 5 PM local time with the Glendale Raptors and Rugby United New York of Major League Rugby kicking off after at 7:30 PM.
Tickets are available at glendaleraptors.com/tickets with the Eagles-Barbarians game broadcast LIVE on FloRugby.com.
U.S. Women's National Team Full Squad
| PLAYER NAME | POSITION | CLUB | CAPS |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bailey Araujo | Second Row | Twin City Amazons | 0 |
| Destiny Arena | Hooker | Lindenwood | 0 |
| Katy Augustyn | Hooker | Berkeley All Blues | 33 |
| Bui Baravilala | Center | Berkeley All Blues | 6 |
| Catie Benson | Prop | Life West Gladiators | 17 |
| Stacey Bridges | Second Row | Beantown Rugby | 36 |
| Kaitlyn Broughton | Back Three | Atlanta Harlequins | 3 |
| Ashlee Byrge | Scrumhalf | Women's Sevens Residency Program | 0 |
| Bitsy Cairns | Back Row | Life West Gladiators | 8 |
| Gabby Cantorna | Flyhalf | Glendale Merlins | 3 |
| Chidinma Chukwueke | Back Row | Atlanta Harlequins | 0 |
| Jennine Duncan | Back Three | Seattle Saracens | 2 |
| Rachel Ehrecke | Back Row | Glendale Merlins | 0 |
| Tess Feury | Wing | Unattached | 6 |
| Megan Foster | Fullback | San Diego Surfers | 5 |
| Eti Haungatau | Center | Women's Sevens Residency Program | 0 |
| Corinne Heavner | Flyhalf / Back Three | Atlanta Harlequins | 0 |
| Evan Hoese | Wing | Berkeley All Blues | 1 |
| Katana Howard | Flyhalf | Twin City Amazons | 0 |
| Olivia Bernadel Huey | Fly Half | Unattached | 0 |
| Kayla Hunkin-Clark | Prop / Hooker | Seattle Saracens | 0 |
| Charli Jacoby | Prop | North Shore | 0 |
| Nick James | Prop | Houston Athletic | 6 |
| Rachel Johnson | Back Row | Oregon Sports Union | 3 |
| Joanna Kitlinski | Hooker | Glendale Merlins | 8 |
| Jenny Kronish | Second Row | Harvard | 0 |
| Cortney Kuehl | Center | Atlanta Harlequins | 0 |
| Maya Learned | Prop | Glendale Merlins | 0 |
| Shelby Lin | Scrum Half | Berkeley All Blues | 0 |
| Bulou Mataitoga | Fullback | Berkeley All Blues | 0 |
| Amy Naber | Center | Lifewest Gladiators | 1 |
| Azniv Nalbandian | Prop | Penn State University | 3 |
| Neariah Persinger | Center | Unattached | 0 |
| Christiane Pheil | Back Row | Atlanta Harlequins | 8 |
| Shamira Robles | Back Three | New York Rugby | 0 |
| Hope Rogers | Hooker/Prop | Women's Sevens Residency Program | 25 |
| Megan Rom | Prop | Life University | 2 |
| Kimber Rozier | Center | Beantown Rugby | 30 |
| Nate Serevi | Back Row/ Second Row | Scion Rugby | 2 |
| Paige Stathopoulos | Center | Northeast Academy | 0 |
| Kelsi Stockert | Back Three | Unattached | 8 |
| Nicole Strasko | Second Row/ Back Row | Life West Gladiators | 3 |
| Christina Swift | Back Three | Atlanta Harlequins | 0 |
| Finau Tamaivena | No. 8 | Seattle Saracens | 1 |
| Joyce Taufa | Hooker | Lindenwood University | 3 |
| Juliann Tordonato | Center | Glendale Merlins | 0 |
| Elizabeth Trujillo | Scrum Half | San Diego Surfers | 0 |
| Alycia Washington | Second Row | New York Rugby | 17 |
| Carly Waters | Halfback | New York Rugby | 2 |
| Kate Zackary | Back Row | San Diego Surfers | 9 |
| Olivia Ortiz | Scrumhalf | Davenport | 0 |
Women’s National Team Staff
General Manager | Emilie Bydwell
Head Coach | Rob Cain
Assistant Coach | Jamie Burke
Assistant Coach | Kate Daley
Assistant Coach | Shawn Pittman
Coach/Team Manager | Jenny Lui
Head Strength & Conditioning Coach | Ian Jones
Assistant Strength & Conditioning Coach | Michaela Staniford
Head Performance Analyst | Dave Gardner
Team Doctor | Terence Cronin
Head Athletic Trainer | Bri Arsenault
Assistant Athletic Trainer | Amie Kern
Assistant Athletic Trainer | Jade Callan
Support Manager | Frank Palumbo
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About the Full Squad
A full squad is a pool of athletes who will assemble with the team and be available for selection at some point within a competition window. Starting rosters for each game within the competition window can be selected from this pool of athletes with occasional replacements made to cover injuries and player availability.
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