USA High School All-American Team

    Under new head coach Danielle Miller, USA Rugby recently changed the name of the under 20 Women’s National Team to the Women’s Junior All-American Team (WJAA).  Many teams are not aware of the name change and have missed out on information because of the name confusion.   Also, this summer the first Girls High School All-American team (HSAA) will assemble and compete.  It's our understanding that some of the girls will participate in the Girls High School All-American Team as well as the Women’s Junior All-American Team.  More importantly, having a HSAA team will afford more high school girls the opportunity to experience international competition.

     In past years players worked their way up to the USA u20 WNT through outstanding seasons, and some followed that up with participation on regional select-sides like the Midwest u19 team in a one-off tournament held in November.  Others made the jump directly to the u20 WNT, but that has been happening less and less after the shift to u20 team instead of a u19 team resulted in less high school players in the system.  Hence the need for a Girls HSAA team.

     This past fall there was no Midwest u19 team, making things a little more challenging, especially for high school girls to make the jump.   Regardless, coaches are always on the lookout for up and coming players, regardless of their age and school. Clearly, the USA is currently searching for girls who want to participate in the WJAA and HSAA programs both this year and in the future. 

     In an attempt to see more players, help develop skills, and minimize travel cost, various invitational regional camps are held in March, in the hopes one may find the most advantageous time and location.  Players can be invited to camp by filling out a nomination form.  In total, about 200 girls are invited to the 4 camps.   

The camps are:
March 1-3 Atlanta                                           March 8-10 SoCal
March 15-17 Portland, OR                             March 29-31 East Coast (maybe Penn St., maybe Wash. DC)

The nomination form is available at:
http://form.jotformpro.com/form/23106733350949

The WJAA team will participate in the U20 Nation's Cup this summer in England.  In the past this has involved teams such as Wales, England, Canada, but it could even include South Afrika or the other Celtic ruggers from Scotland and Ireland.