USA Field Hockey News

USA Field Hockey News

Athletes Seek Selection to USA Field Hockey 2005 Teams at Open Trial, A-Camp

Colorado Springs, Colo. – USA Field Hockey will select its 2005 women’s senior and junior national squads during trial camps, Jan. 14-17, at the USA Field Hockey National Training Center in Virginia Beach, Va.

The four-day event will feature two distinct trials with 78 athletes competing at A Camp for spots on USA Field Hockey’s under-21 junior team, while an additional 36 athletes will compete in an open trial for spots on the U.S. senior national squad. Junior athletes at A Camp may also receive invitations to join the senior squad.

The open trial features 12 returning members from the 2004 U.S. national squad including Kristi Gannon (Escondido, Calif.), Tara Jelley (Greenfield, Mass.), Robyn Kenney, Melissa Leonetti (Erdenheim, Pa.), Carrie Lingo (Rehoboth Beach, Del.), Angie Loy (Loysville, Pa.), Molly Powers (Oak Park, Ill.), Dina Rizzo (Walpole, Mass.), Keli Smith (Selinsgrove, Pa.), Tiffany Snow (Escondido, Calif.), Amy Tran (Grantville, Pa.) and Abbey Woolley (Ocean City, N.J.). In addition, the trial is expected to draw the past two winners of collegiate field hockey’s Player of the Year award in Kelly Doton (Greenfield, Mass.) and Kelly Dostal (Hatfield, Mass.). Both Doton and Dostal competed at Wake Forest Univ. with Doton winning the top collegiate honor for the 2003 season and Dostal winning the award in 2004. Snow won the award in 2002 at Old Dominion Univ. Four of Dostal’s 2004 collegiate All-America Team teammates will join her at the trial including Mari Creatini (Newton, Mass./Northeastern), Claire Laubach (Bristow, Va./Wake Forest), Abby Ostruzka (Riverside, Conn./Univ. of Connecticut) and Sara Silvetti (Wapwallopen, Pa./Univ. of Maryland).

Athletes at the open trial may be selected to the residency program where they will relocate and begin daily training in Virginia Beach, or be named to the training squad where they will maintain their current residence while training in other USA Field Hockey programs.

The open trial marks the return of the U.S. athletes to the residency program after the team narrowly missed qualifying for the 2004 Olympic Games. USA Field Hockey has tagged returning to the Games as a top priority, and the trial will signal the debut of Terry Walsh as USA Field Hockey’s new technical director of high performance. One of the international game’s most respected coaches, Walsh led The Netherlands men’s team to a silver medal at the 2004 Olympic Games after coaching his native Australia to a bronze medal at the 2000 Olympic Games. Walsh will oversee all of USA Field Hockey’s coaching programs and will be involved in USA Field Hockey’s process to name a new women’s national team head coach.

Junior Team to be selected at A Camp

At A-Camp, the invited athletes will participate in an intensive weekend of skill and tactics training capped by selections to the 2005 U.S. Under-21 squad. Under junior team head coach Tracey Fuchs, the U21 team will compete in the Junior Pan American Championships, March 16-27 in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The Junior Pan Am event serves as a qualifier for the Junior World Cup, scheduled for September, 2005 in Santiago, Chile.

Athletes at A Camp range from high school players such as 15-year old Melissa Gonzalez (Mohegan Lake, N.Y./Lakeland HS) to college All-America selections Lauren Crandall (Doylestown, Pa., Wake Forest), Rachel Dawson (Berlin, N.J/Univ. North Carolina.), Kelli Giles (Williamsburg, Va./William & Mary), Katie Grant (Lehighton, Pa,/Duke Univ.), Lori Hillman (Hillsboro, N.J./Univ. Michigan), Allie Howard (Lititz, Pa./Univ. Richmond), Doni-Melissa Jantzen (Shoreham, N.Y./Hofstra), Mia Link (Jenkintown, Pa./Univ. Virginia), Jennifer McDavitt (Walpole, Mass./Harvard)and Lauren Powley (Mountaintop, Pa./Univ. of Maryland).

The A Camp roster includes 53 collegiate athletes and 25 high school standouts. The University of North Carolina will send the most athletes to A Camp with eight, followed by the University of Michigan with five selections and the College of William & Mary with four selections. NCAA Division I National Champion Wake Forest Univ., NCAA runner-up Duke Univ. and the Univ. of Iowa will each send three athletes to A Camp.