CHULA VISTA, CA (November 14, 2024) – The USA Women’s Sevens team has named 11 players to the squad competing at the Premier Rugby Sevens All-Star Tournament on Sunday, Nov. 17 at Providence Park in Portland, Ore. At this first-time event, the Olympic bronze medal-winning program will face the PR7s Women’s All-Stars and Canada Women’s 7s team in front of a hometown crowd. [lead photo: Alex Ho @hoiho_photo]
RELATED: Schedule & Broadcast details
“It’s hard to believe that we are wrapping up our first preseason of the LA 2028 campaign,” USA Women’s 7s Team Head Coach Emilie Bydwell said. “After achieving our goal of podium in Paris we have had significant turnover as a team and we have spent the fall welcoming the next generation of USA Women’s Sevens players. We see this first year of the quad being focused around building the foundation required to build through the next four years.
“Preseason has emphasized the development of physical capacity, tolerance, and developing the technical skills required to play the way that we want to,” the coach added. “Beyond that we have been working on how to help our new residents understand how to thrive in a professional, full-time environment and instill the culture and values of our program.”
View this post on Instagram
Olympians Alena Olsen and Kayla Canett co-captain the team, and along with Ari Ramsey, they represent a trio of 2024 bronze medal winners in Portland. Nia Toliver is also back, having competed at the Tokyo Olympics. The rest of the squad is very young in international experience. Kaylen Thomas (2) and Rachel Strasdas (1) have appeared on the HSBC SVNS series, while returning USA 7s resident Autumn Czaplicki brings solid experience from Chula Vista. Newly USA 15s capped Sariah Ibarra, USA Club 7s Championship MVP Autumn Locicero, fellow Scion teammate Hann Humphreys, and the Pacific Northwest’s Alyssa Porter (WAC/Seattle) will also feature in Portland.
“The PR7s competition is perfectly timed prior to Dubai to give us an opportunity to instill and rehearse our processes, build awareness and connection as we start to form a new team, and most importantly provide the players the space to explore their strengths against external competition so we can identify areas that we want to enhance and augment through the early stages of the season,” Bydwell said. “We have some exciting new talent that brings unique super powers to the game, so we will use this competition to encourage them to express themselves while they also learn to play together and how to get the most out of each other.”
The USA Women’s 7s team will play the PR7s All Stars (rosters) and Canada Women’s 7s team. The USA Men’s 7s team will play the PR7s All Stars. In between the international matches, be sure to catch Oregon vs. Oregon State women, PNW U18 Loggers vs. TOA U18 girls, and a senior club men’s match. See the broadcast schedule.