U.S. UNDER-18 WOMEN’S NATIONAL TEAM
Head Coach: Dave Chesler
Major Competition: None
Eligibility: Players born on or after January 1, 1992
Key Events: Domestic training camps
2008 International Record: 5-0-1
U.S. Under-18 Women’s National Team
In 2008, the U.S. Under-18 Women’s National Team was reinstituted (after having existed from 1998-2001) to give international competition to players who have just finished a cycle with the U.S. U-17s, but are a year away from the next U-20 cycle.
The U-18 WNT provides a transition for a number of those players that could possibly make up the core of the team that would attempt to qualify for the following U-20 Women’s World Cup, or even contribute to the current cycle of U-20s. The U-18s also provide a proving ground for players in the U-20 pool who may be just below the core group training for the U-20 Women’s World Cup, giving them an environment to show their worth to be pulled back into the top tier of U-20s.
Dean Duerst, who coached the U.S. U-17s in 2007, led the 2008 U-18s to a highly successful year, defeating three college teams and winning six games against European U-19s sides in Europe.
In 2009, head coach Dave Chesler takes over the group of players born in 1992 for a series of domestic camps, several of which will be held with or side-by-side with the U.S. U-20s as this group of players begins more intense preparations for qualifying for the 2010 FIFA Under-20 Women’s World Cup in Germany.
With the addition of the U-18s, the U.S. Women’s National Team program now has teams at the U-14, U-15, U-17, U-18, U-20, U-23 and full Women’s National Team levels. The structure now mirrors the men’s side, which sends its U-23 team to the Olympics, and the women like the men (with the inception of the U-17 FIFA Women’s World Cup), will now compete every two years for FIFA U-17 and U-20 Women’s World Cup titles.
The U.S. U-18s had a nice run during the late 1990s, wining the 1999 Pan American Games in Canada and going 14-0-3 during the year. Shannon Cirovski, a veteran of the USA’s 1991 Women’s World Cup championship team, was the first coach of the U-18s in 1998 before then U.S. Women’s National Team assistant coach Jay Hoffman grabbed the reigns and guided the team to Pan Am gold.
