U.S. Releases its WRWC Team, Assembly

The USA Women's National Rugby Team has officially announced the roster of 26 players and four reserves who are set to assemble in the weeks leading up to the 2010 Women's Rugby World Cup (WRWC) in England.

“It is never an easy task to trim down a squad we have been working with for almost four years,” said Women’s National Rugby Team Coach Kathy Flores. “With the 2010 World Cup less than two months away, we are working to prepare for every variable possible and select according to the needs of the team, in regards to the commitment and dedication of each individual and their contribution to the squad.”

Assembling on July 10, the USA squad will hold a residency camp at Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine for three weeks before departing for England.

“The U.S. Women will feel right at home in the college’s top-notch residential and athletic facilities,” Women’s High Performance Manager, Alex Williams said. “Bowdoin is home to one of the few women’s varsity rugby programs in the country and it’s a great environment for the intense final preparations prior to the World Cup.”

The residency camp will include a lot of individual and unit skill work, along with strength and conditioning sessions, video analysis, and creating game plans for its upcoming RWC pool matches. Brought into the camp will be additional skill specialists, sports psychologists, nutritionists and select media personnel who will all work with the players and staff in preparation for the team’s biggest event of the quadrennial.

The National Team’s time at Bowdoin College won’t be all work and no play, however. On July 12, the USA Women’s Team will host an Under-19 rugby clinic for new and upcoming Under-19 female players and then on July 25, the Women’s National Team will play the Northeast Rugby Union All-Star Women’s Team in a final Women’s Rugby World Cup warm-up match for the Eagles.

The U.S. will also have one week of preparation and acclimatization once landing in England, prior to the kick-off of the 2010 Women’s Rugby World Cup.

The 2010 Women’s Rugby World Cup features the top 12 teams from around the world. The teams are sorted into three pools and will play pool opponents on three match days through August. The fifth-ranked USA Women’s Team is in Pool B along with second-seeded England, Ireland and Kazakhstan.

The USA will face the 11th-ranked Kazakhstan, first, on Friday, August 20. Four days later, the USA will play the eighth-seed, Ireland side, on August 24 and will finish against England on August 28.

“We don’t have the luxury to look past any team at the Women’s Rugby World Cup,” Flores added. “While we were playing Canada in June, Kazakhstan played close matches with South Africa. Ireland is lining up practice competition in the coming month and I am sure England will be training and lining up practice matches as well. No team is taking anything for granted in this event.”

The U.S. Women’s Rugby World Cup Team includes:

Forwards

Sharon Blaney (Beantown)

Stacey Bridges (Texas A&M)

Jamie Burke (Beantown)

Lisa Butts (Berkeley All-Blues)

Melanie Denham (Beantown)

Farrah Douglas (Keystone)

Blair Groefsema (Berkeley All-Blues)

Phaidra Knight (New York)

Jillion Potter (Minnesota Valkyries)

Beckett Royce (Oregon Sports Union)

Lara Vivolo (New York)

Kittery Wagner (Beantown)

Maurin Wallace (Beantown)

Kristin Zdanczewicz (Minnesota Valkyries)

Backs

Claudia Braymer (Albany)

Emilie Bydwell (Beantown)

Amy Daniels (Beantown)

Ashley English (Berkeley All-Blues)

Victoria Folayan (Berkeley All-Blues)

Melissa Kanuk (Minnesota Valkyries)

Ashley Kmiecik (Oregon Sports Union)

Lynelle Kugler (Twin Cities Amazons)

Kim Magrini (Keystone)

Nathalie Marchino (Berkeley All-Blues)

Vanesha McGee (New York)

Christy Ringgenberg (Minnesota Valkyries)

Reserves

Stephanie Bruce (Berkeley All-Blues)

Kate Daley (Keystone)

Naima Reddick (Berkeley All-Blues)

Hannah Stolba (Minnesota Valkyries)

For more information on the Women’s National Team, please visit www.usarugby.org/goto/women_eagles. To follow the WNT on the road to the Women’s Rugby World Cup or for the chance to sponsor a day of residency for the U.S. Women’s Rugby Team visit www.weWaNTrugby.com. Also, don’t forget to check out the Women’s Rugby World Cup website at www.rwcwomens.com.

About Bowdoin Bowdoin is an independent, nonsectarian, coeducational residential, undergraduate liberal arts institution founded in 1794. It is located in Brunswick, Maine, a town of 21,000 on the Maine coast. Study at Bowdoin leads to a bachelor of arts degree in one of over 40 departmental and interdisciplinary majors. Bowdoin enrolls approximately 1,750 students from across the country and around the world. For more information, please visit www.bowdoin.edu.