The American womens rugby 7s side will take a squad of 24 player to the USA Rugby Womens International Invitational Sevens Tournament in Las Vegas next weekend.
Recently-appointed head coach Ric Suggitt will oversee two USA teams at the tournament which will also see involvement from the national 7s sides from Germany, France and China.
Suggit has worked with the USA womens 15s management team of Alex Williams, Kathy Flores and national U20 coach Bryn Chivers and the previous coaching staff to get together a strong squad.
Hosted by USA Rugby, and held in conjunction with the Las Vegas Invitational leading up to the men's IRB World, the women's competition will hold pool play and early knockout stages on Friday, Feb. 12, before taking a day off on Saturday and finishing with the final on Sunday afternoon in the Sam Boyd Stadium. All Friday matches will be webcast live via UStream. (www.ustream.tv/usarugby).
I am very pleased with the number and quality of the teams participating in the event this year, given that it is year one of the 7s World Cup cycle and there is a 15s Women's Rugby World Cup later this year," said Alex Williams, USA Women's High Performance Manager.
All of the invited teams should prove tough competition. France were Plate semifinalists at the inaugural womens event at the 2009 Sevens World Cup. China first gained international notice at the USAs International Invitational Tournament in 2007 and then won the Bowl at the Sevens World Cup last March.
Germany is a team on the rise, while Canadian Universities will showcase the best young players from North of the border. All
USA squad:
Jeanna Beard (Severn River), Ida Bernstein (Keystone), Elizabeth Black (NOVA), Tanya Carlson (Chicago North Shore), Dani Cicuto (Navy). Katie Dowty (Beantown), Chastity Dunnaville (Navy), Jenna Flateman (New York), Kelly Griffin (Berkeley), Lisa Henneman (PSU), Cade Hildreth (NOVA), Lauren Hoeck (NOVA), Bisi Ibrahim (Stanford), Jennifer Lui (Chicago North Shore), Tyra McGrady (Indiana University), San Juanita Moreno (ORSU), Christiane Pheil (PSU), Jessica Sexauer (Army), Lauren Shaughnessy (Emerald City), Melissa Smit (Belmont Shore), Elizabeth Trujilo (Navy), JoAnne Ward (Albany), Brittany Woodard (DC Furies)