Similar to the previous two years, TRB is collating information (interest forms, tryouts, games, etc.) for U23 programs that are funneling toward the USA Rugby U23 National All-Star Championship (June 28-30 @ New England Free Jacks Stadium in Quincy, Mass). The tournament is a selection venue for the U23 national team, an important age grade that develops players for the USA Women’s National Team.

There are eight teams participating (rosters below), and they’ll compete in two tiers. The following schedule is listed in Eastern Time and all games will live-stream for free on The Rugby Network. For those watching the tournament in person, entrance to the Free Jacks stadium is free of charge.

SCHEDULE

FRIDAY JUNE 28

TIER 2
Pacific South 67-7 Central South
New England 60-14 Mid-Atlantic

TIER 1
Rocky Mountain 24-14 Pacific Coast
South 29-26 Midwest

SUNDAY JUNE 30

9 a.m. Tier 2 Consolation
Mid-Atlantic v Central South

11 a.m. Tier 2 Championship
New England v Pacific South

1 p.m. Tier 1 Consolation
Midwest v Pacific Coast

3 p.m. Tier 1 Championship
South v Rocky Mountain

This post will continually update with new information, so please feel free to send additions/corrections to Jackie Finlan.

CENTRAL SOUTH

Players from the Mid-America, Prairie States and Texas Rugby Union are represented in the squad. The program is taking donations for travel to Massachusetts. Follow @u23mustangs for more info.

Michaela Adams – Houston Athletic RC
Katheryne Blackman – KC Jazz
Katie Bowman – Southern Illinois Univ
Eliza-Grace Canyon – UT San Antonio
Mia Cayard – Univ Oklahoma
Hannah Chapman – Raleigh Venom
Lauren Comeaux – Univ Houston
Ashton Dillard – Univ Arkansas
Christian Evans – Univ Central Missouri
Emma Fox – Oklahoma St
Kathryn George – Truman State Univ
Morgan Gibbons – Dallas Harlequins
Kaylee Goodwin – Univ North Texas
Morgann Harrison – Univ Central Missouri
Maya Hartnett – Southern Nazarene Univ
Jade Henderson – OKC Mountain Boomers
Angelica Joseph – San Antonio Riverters
Jasmin Johme – Wayne State College
Dylan Kipp – Univ British Columbia
Cadyn Laase – OKC Mountain Boomers
Ragan Rodriguez – Wayne State College
Faith Roscoe – Wayne State College
Kamryn Sparks – Round Rock Rage
Macy Wagner – Austin Valkyries
Rebekah Williams – Houston Athletic RC

KJ Abel Ruch – Head coach
Sarah Dickerson – Asst/forwards coach
Kris Karsten – Asst/backs coach
Rochelle Towson – Medic

MID-ATLANTIC

For players that live or go to school in PA, MD, VA, DE, DC and WV. Tryouts were held May 19 (Philly) and May 26 (D.C.). Follow @u23midatlanticrugby for more information.

Contacts:
Head coach: Kat Aversano, katherine.aversano@gmail.com
Coach: Kate Daley, kathleen.m.daley@gmail.com

Abbey Bartenstein – Mount St. Mary’s Univ
Verita (Vee) Borsoh-Ansah – Univ Virginia
DJ Kaylee Brulliea – Kutztown Univ
Gianna Calciano – Loyola of Maryland
Emma Davies – West Chester Univ
Fiona Galvin – Virginia Tech
Kelly Greenleaf – Towson Univ
Rin Grove – Maryland
Mandy Gutierrez – Temple Univ
Ty Hickey – West Chestern Univ
Jen Holland – North Bay
Sophia Hoyer – West Chester Univ
Zoe Johnson – Virginia Tech
Tyson Lochlan Hickey – West Chester Univ
Sophia Loosemore – Virginia Tech
Taylor McLean – Severn River, Md.
Merrin McSorley – Penn State
Faith Morley – West Chester Univ, Wicklow (Ire)
Hope Palmer – James River
Mack Putkowski – Severn River
Callie Rautenbach – Penn State
Robby Robinson – Christopher Newport Univ
Kira Rubiano – College of NJ
Jaida Rudkin – Penn State
Erin Sample – Christopher Newport Univ
Amanee Saucier – Univ New Haven
Izzy Smith – Severn River
Kaitlyn Sosa – Penn State
Madison Steele – Severn River

MIDWEST

Eight state-based teams competed at the Midwest Coaches Challenge on May 18-19 in Oshkosh, Wis. There, Thunderbird coaches Xane Gerasimo and Meghan Flanigan identified talent for the Midwest U23 team, which competes at nationals.

The following is information for the eight state-based U23 teams:

ALLEGHENY
Indicate interest and/or register for Sunday, April 21 tryout in Pittsburgh, Pa., HERE.

Contact: Kiyomi Knox, kiyomiknox@gmail.com
Head coach: Mike Geibel, mbgeibel@gmail.com

ILLINOIS
Contact: Head coach Betty Nguyen
betty.nguyen25@gmail.com
Registration: Link

Tryouts were held March 24 & April 7. Practices were held April 14, April 21 and May 5.

INDIANA
Contact: Head coach TBD. Contact Xane Gerasimo in interim

IOWA
Contact: Head coach Meghan Flanigan, Univ Northern Iowa
flanigan.meghan@gmail.com
Interest form: Link

Tryouts were held March 23 and April 14.

MICHIGAN
Contact: Head coach Jamie Frech
jamiefrech@gmail.com
Interest form: Link

MINNESOTA
Contact: Mikayla Miller, Univ. Minnesota
mill3998@umn.edu, 651-307-5944
Subscribe for tryouts: Link

Tryouts were held Feb. 17 (Minneapolis) & March 24 (Rosemount).

OHIO
Contacts
Coach: Vanessa Marsh
marsh.vj@gmail.com

Coach: Izzi Gibbon
513-667-0826 • izzigibbon@gmail.com

Tryouts were held April 7 (Dayton) and April 8 (South Euclid)

WISCONSIN
Contact: Head coach Xane Gerasimo
xanthi.gerasimo@gmail.com

NEW ENGLAND

The New England Free Jacks Academy is the regional all-star program for the Women’s U23s (“Independents”).

Staff: Olivia Benzan-Daniel, Stacey Markovic, Sarah Harkness, Bridget Kahele, Jenn Jordan

The final tryout was June 1 in Quincy, Mass., and training dates occurred May 4, 12 and 19. A training squad of 32 players was named, and the following have been selected for the U23 championship:

Emily Antonik – Beantown RFC
Shayla Barker – UCONN
Salma Bezzat – Beantown RFC
Annika Chiang-Böckman – Colby College
Octavia Crawford – Norwich Univ
Kendall Cunningham – Brown Univ
Mia Daoust – Bowdoin Univ
Erin Deayton – Boston Univ
Kate Desautels – Norwich Univ
Maggie Devlin – UCONN
Lauren Ferridge – Beantown RFC
Alyssa Gioia – Norwich Univ
Sarah Gray – Roger Williams Univ
Shannon Hobbs – Norwich Univ
Skylar Jordan – Harvard Univ
Nikki Lynch – Brown Univ
Molly McAlevey – Northeastern Univ
Neasa McLaughlin – Harvard Univ
Sia Meni – Darmtouth College
Kate Murphy – McGill University
Ella Slaby – Bowdoin College
Hannah Wilker – Northeastern Univ
Caroline Woelfel – Sacred Heart Univ
Emma Wright – Roger Williams Univ

PACIFIC COAST

The Pacific Northwest and NorCal feed into the Pacific Coast Grizzlies. They have their own tryouts and camps, and then sent their representative teams to San Francisco on June 8 for a Grizzlies selection match. The game was a curtain-raiser for the WPL Berkeley vs. TC Amazons match.

NORCAL
Contact: DM via Instagram • Training camps were held Feb. 18 (San Jose), March 17 (Moraga) and May 19 (East Palo Alto).

PACIFIC NORTHWEST
PNW Selects held two, free, regional development camps (Feb. 25 in Washington & March 17 in Oregon) that were open to HS, U23 and senior players and led by USA Rugby Women’s High Performance personnel. Those selection venues produced a PNW team for the June 8 Grizzlies selection match vs. NorCal.

From that match, the following Pacific Coast Grizzlies team was selected:

 

 

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PACIFIC SOUTH

Covers SoCal and the Southwest. In April, there were tryouts in Phoenix and San Diego, then a final tryout June 1 in Claremont, Calif. Follow the Pacific Desert conference’s Instagram @pacdesert_rugbyconference for info or contact program manager Joanne Absher at joanneabsher@gmail.com.

 

 

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ROCKY MOUNTAIN

This region covers Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Utah and Colorado. The main info source is @rockymountainpeaks on Instagram. The team held its tryout on May 24-25 at Utah Valley Univ. Registration Link

Bailey Ballard	BYU
Lauren Campbell	Grand Canyon University
Erica Coulibaly	Des Moines
Adrianna Fedderke	University of Wyoming
Nafanua Fitisemanu	Harvard University
Kambria Hartrick	BYU
Kaelin Hirschi	Rocky Mountain Peaks
Makayla Komer	Rocky Mountain Peaks
Laura LaVigne	Colorado Gray Wolves
Reina Lavulavu	Rocky Mountain Peaks
Verónica Ledezma	Denver Black Ice (previously ABQ Atomic Sisters)
Angel Lucero	Grand Canyon University
Josie Moody	Utah Valley University
Avery Morgan	BYU
Matalasi Morrissette	Rocky Mountain Peaks
Talosia Morrissette	Rocky Mountain Peaks
Emma Reimann	Rocky Mountain Peaks
Aubrie Robinette	Rocky Mountain Peaks
Sayler Russell	Long Island University
Falelua Stowers	Rocky Mountain Peaks
Taina Tukuafu	USA (Lindenwood ’24)
Roxelle Thomas	Life West

SOUTH

The South Reapers represent players from ages 18-23 who live or go to school in North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Tennessee or Kentucky. Head coach and main contact Lisa Jackson selected the team via video submission and the squad was announced on April 28:

Izzy Alexander – UT Knoxville
Lauren Anderson – Louisiana State
Ilene Andrade – Queens Univ of Charlotte
Madeleine Balga – Charleston Hurricanes
EC Cantrell – Cardiff Met Univ
Lemor Carlton – NC State
Carson Crenshaw – Virginia
Claire Czap – Queens Univ of Charlotte
Kylee Edwards – Raleigh Venom
Hannah Fleming – Coastal Carolina Univ
Maya Gamble – College of Charleston
Emily Gooding – Florida State Univ
Gabrielle Grove – Queens Univ of Charlotte
Mikaela Hall – Queens Univ of Charlotte
Maddie Hughes – Queens Univ of Charlotte
Candela Mangiardi-Querol – Queens Univ of Charlotte
Traci Martin – Eckerd College
Jada Medellin – Queens Univ of Charlotte
Kennedy Nietert – Kennesaw Stat Univ
Lea Preuss – Queens Univ of Charlotte
Emily Rahija – Univ Central Florida
Salome Schmitt – Queens Univ of Charlotte
Katie Schwan – Eckerd College
Phoebe Stefanick – Lee Univ
Jay Stone – Queens Univ of Charlotte
Lily Tews – Hartpury Univ

Traveling Reserves
Kaydee Wyatt – Florida State Univ
Jaden Gary – Guilford College
Cassandra Cirella – Coastal Carolina Univ

Staff
Lisa Jackson – Head coach (Dartmouth, USA Pathways)
Emily Roskopf – Asst coach (Quinnipiac Univ)
Christine Newcomb – Asst coach (Guilford College)
Darian Lovelace – Asst coach (Atlanta Harlequins)