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USA U21 Women Set for China Tour
By Howard Thomas // U.S. Field Hockey Association // March 5, 2007
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. USA Field Hockey's Under-21 squad will get a pre-Olympic peek at China this week when the team visits the 2008 Olympic host for a series against the Chinese junior team.
The U.S. team will take on the Chinese U21 team in matches March 12, 14 and 17 at the MinHang Hockey Stadium in Shanghai. The U.S. juniors will also meet the Shanghai club team in a pair of games March 11 and 16.
It will be a great experience for our juniors to not only play a top hockey country, but to experience a new culture, said head coach Tracey Fuchs. We have a great mix of new players along with returning Junior World Cup players, so although we won't have much time to prepare, we hope to compete hard, and grow as a team in a short period of time.
The USA roster for the tour ranges from National Team members to a 16-year-old high school star. National Team members Katelyn Falgowski (Landenberg, Pa.), Katie O'Donnell (Blue Bell, Pa.) and Michelle Kasold (Chapel Hill, N.C.) have all made significant international appearances for the USA senior team while high school junior Paige Selenski (Shavertown, Pa.) - the team's youngest member - will make her first international tour with the USA Under-21 team.
Other athletes selected for the tour include Janelle Avila (North Kingstown, R.I.), Kelsey Cutchins (Suffolk, Va.), Meghan Dean (Marathon, N.Y.), Paige Laytos (Lititz, Pa.), Jennifer Long (Doyelstown, Pa.), Melissa Martin (Lititz, Pa.), Caitlin McCurdy (Mountaintop, Pa.), Brianna O'Donnell (Collegeville, Pa.), Katie Reinprecht (North Wales, Pa.), Allison Scola (Hummelstown, Pa.), Kadi Sickel (Plaistow, N.H,) and Laura Suchoski (Wilkes-Barre, Pa.).
Falgowski, O'Donnell, Kasold and goalkeeper Brianna O'Donnell were members of the 2005 USA Junior World Cup team that earned a best-ever 7th place finish in Santiago, Chile. Kasold (Wake Forest) also joins USA teammates Suchoski (Duke) and Long (Penn States) as selections to the 2006 collegiate all-America team.
We expect China to be very disciplined with great athleticism and skill, said Fuchs. We hope to match that and provide a great competitive atmosphere for our junior team.
Selected in the summer at the National Junior Camp in Virginia Beach, the U.S. U21 squad swept a two-game series from a British Columbia under-21 team during the USA/Canada Field Hockey Challenge in July.
The China tour continues the development of the U.S. junior athletes in preparation for the 2008 Junior Pan American Championship and 2009 Junior World Cup.
www.usafieldhockey.com
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