From USA Rugby

Boulder, Colo.– Over 100 of the nation’s top women’s rugby athletes will convene this week in Lakeland, Fla., for a High Performance Camp next week at Tigertown, the Detroit Tigers’ spring training facility. The camp will serve as a selection vehicle for national teams and an opportunity for coaches to collaborate and identify talent for the upcoming international season.

USA Women’s Eagles Head Coach, Pete Steinberg; USA Women’s Eagle Sevens Head Coach, Ric Suggitt; and USA Women’s Collegiate All-Americans Head Coach, Martha Daines will all be in attendance as well as their respective staffs.

On the player’s side, various standout performers from the fall club season including Lynelle Kugler of the Twin Cities Amazons and Phoebe Boone of the Berkeley All Blues along with many other athletes from Women’s Premier League and Divisions I and II senior club. There are also a handful of collegiate athletes hoping to earn All-American and international honors.

Suggitt has brought some fresh faces into the sevens fold, and has an expanded player pool from his pre-Dubai camp. With an eye on the emerging IRB Women’s Challenge Cup series, Suggitt will look to add depth to the pool of sevens athletes.

Included in the invitees to the sevens of the camp are familiar names such as Nathalie Marchino, Deven Owsiany, Pam Kosanke, and Irene Gardner along with many other veterans.

Joing the two senior level National Teams in camp this week will be the Women’s Collegiate All-Americans (WCAAs). In an excitng effort to give the WCAAs experience in high performance rugby, Head Coach Martha Daines has named a roster full of talent and youth. The invitees, including top players from college programs like Penn State, Stanford, Army, and Norwich University are looking forward to training in the High Performance environment alongside current Eagles and National Team Coaches.

This is a massive opportunity for all involved and this camp should produce some exciting results come game time for all the National Teams involved.

Eight current or former Eagles will be developing their skills at the camp, but not their playing skills. The eight players will undergo a course leader training course from the USA Rugby Coach Development Department. Farrah Douglas and Tina Nesberg will be shadowing the coaches throughout the camp. Jillion Potter, Jamie Burke, Kittery Wagner, Sharon Blaney, Kate Daley, and Melanie Denham will go through the course leader training.