USA Falcons’ Cassidy Bargell at the LVI.
Several American women’s teams are competing in the Vancouver Rugby Festival today and tomorrow. The tournament is similar to the LVI in that it precedes the HSBC World Sevens Series stop in Canada, but there is no women’s component in BC Place Stadium. Instead, the women’s Canadian leg occurs at the end of May in Langford, B.C.
RELATED: Vancouver 7s Teams & Schedules • Canada Maple Leafs Release Roster • USA Falcons Win Okinawa 7s
The Women’s Elite division includes four teams: Maple Leafs, South Africa Select, U.S.-based Stars (which includes international players) and the USA Falcons. The Falcons’ roster has not yet been released, but photos from pre-tournament touring have featured the following (* represented the Falcons in Las Vegas):
* Sui A’au – Central Washington University, Wash.
* Cassidy Bargell – Summit High School, Colo.
* Sarah Buonopane – Beantown, Mass.
* Jennine Duncan – Seattle Saracens, Wash.
* Megan Foster – USA Women’s 7s (video interview)
* Mata Hingano – Life West, Calif. (video interview)
Bulou Mataitoga – USA Women’s 7s
Maryjane Pasioles – SacPal Amazons, Calif.
* Megan Sanders – Seattle Saracens, Wash.
* Nate Serevi – Central Washington University, Wash.
Kelsi Stockert – USA Women’s 7s
* Nicole Strasko – USA Women’s 7s
Two players – Stockert and Mataitoga – helped the USA Women’s 7s team to a fourth-place finish at last weekend’s USA 7s. Bargell is still in high school – as is Pasioles – and was in Vancouver last year with the Girls’ High School All-Americans. The junior Eagles won that 2016 tournament easily, but didn’t compete in the LVI or Vancouver in 2017.
Falcons’ A’au and Serevi are foregoing their roster spots with Central Washington University, which is the lone American collegiate side competing in Vancouver. It’s a return visit for the Wildcats as well, and the Ellensburg-based squad will be playing in the six-team Women’s Open division. Read the Wildcats’ full release here.
Finally, the Washington Loggers have returned to the Vancouver 7s tournament and are led by new coach Michaela Staniford. There are seven teams in the Girls’ U18 division, including Tahi Kaha, which finished runner-up to Atlantis in last week’s LVI Girls High School Elite final. The rest of the field is Canadian.
WASHINGTON LOGGERS 7s
Erin Eschbach – Kent
Hannah Boekelman – Kent
Jade Ennis-Palmer – Budd Bay
Jadyn Campbell – Kent
Kateleen Dela Paz – Kent
Keira Kiene-Hoiland – Kent
Lolo Makaafi – Kent
Mckenna Strong – Kent
Victoria Tuli – Kent
Winter Lily O’Bryan – Rainier
Hannah Smith – Liberty
#VancouverRugbyFestival USAFalcons #WashingtonLoggers