Wednesday, April 18, 2012
Seven current W-League stars are among the 27 players that U.S. Women’s National Team head coach Pia Sundhage named for a training camp that opened today at IMG Academies in Bradenton, Fla.. The camp, which will continue through April 30, will serve as preparation for the 2012 Olympics as Sundhage continues the evaluation process to select the 18-player roster that will travel to London.
The U.S. team will train in Bradenton for nearly two weeks in advance of its match against China on May 27 at PPL Park in Chester, Pa. Among the seven W-League players in attendance are five members of the Seattle Sounders Women, including Hope Solo, Megan Rapinoe and Alex Morgan, as well as recent signings Becky Sauerbrunn (D.C. United Women) and Whitney Engen (Pali Blues).
The camp’s roster includes all 23 players who traveled to Japan for the Kirin Challenge Cup, where the USA drew the hosts 1-1 and defeated Brazil 3-0.
U.S. Women’s National Team Roster by Position
GOALKEEPERS (4): Nicole Barnhart, Ashlyn Harris, Jill Loyden, Hope Solo (Seattle Sounders Women)
DEFENDERS (9): Rachel Buehler, Stephanie Cox (Seattle Sounders Women), Whitney Engen (Pali Blues), Meghan Klingenberg, Amy LePeilbet, Heather Mitts, Kelley O’Hara, Christie Rampone, Becky Sauerbrunn (D.C. United Women)
MIDFIELDERS (9): Shannon Boxx, Tobin Heath, Lori Lindsey, Carli Lloyd, Kristie Mewis, Heather O’Reilly, Megan Rapinoe (Seattle Sounders Women), Amy Rodriguez, Keelin Winters
FORWARDS (5): Lauren Cheney, Sydney Leroux (Seattle Sounders Women), Alex Morgan (Seattle Sounders Women), Christen Press, Abby Wambach
“It’s a camp where we do a lot of training, fight through it and see how hard we are working,” U.S. midfielder Shannon Boxx said in a U.S. Soccer release. “We don’t have to taper for a game during this camp so we can do a lot more double days and spend some more hours on the field. We know we are going to feel tired at times, but this is a great chance to push ourselves and get more fit, as well. This camp will be about mentality, about improving fitness and having the time to work on specific things to continue to build our team.”
The USA will be training at IMG Academies, which is the home base for the U.S. U-17 Residency Program and also plays host to the USL Men’s Combine and the USL Super Y-League Boys and Girls ODP National Camps.