U.S. Under-17 Women and Under-16 Girls' National Teams End Year With Trips to South America
The U.S. Women’s Under-17 National Women’s National Team and the U.S. Under-16 Girl’s National Team will both end the year with trips to famed South American soccer cities in December. The U.S. U-17s will be heading to Buenos Aires, Argentina, from Dec. 7-17 while the U-16s head to Rio de Janeiro from Dec. 7-16.
Nov. 20, 2007
U.S. U-17 head coach Dean Duerst will bring 18 players, all but one born in 1990, for two games against Argentina, one against the one against Argentina’s U-20s (Dec. 10) and one against the Argentina U-17s (Dec. 12). Both of the Argentinean teams will feature several overage players. The U.S. U-17s will also face the Uruguay U-17s (Dec. 15), which will also feature some overage players. This current crop of U-17s have a shot at earning a place on the U.S. U-20 Women’s National Team for their CONCACAF qualification, but for the most part, this group of players is focusing on the 2010 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup.
U.S. U-16 head coach Kazbek Tambi will bring 18 players, born in 1991 and 1992, as he continues preparation for qualifying for the 2008 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup in New Zealand, the first-ever FIFA event for U-17 women. A site and dates for CONCACAF qualifying have yet to be confirmed, but it should take place in the middle of 2008. The World Cup tournament is scheduled for Oct. 30-Nov. 16, 2008.
“We spent the last year playing in numerous training camps and competitions and it’s really been about evaluating as many players across the country as we could,” said Tambi. “Now we are at a point where we want to bring that list down to a number we can work with to create the final team. The Brazil trip is very important in this process. We will play some excellent competition, playing some boys teams and some of the best women’s clubs and it will be a great test for our players to see what we look like against some high-level teams.”
With the age cutoff for the U-17 Women’s World Cup at players born on or after January 1, 1991, Tambi has spent the last year identifying, scouting and evaluating players in that age group, but will now begin incorporating the top players from this year ‘s U-15 Girl’s National Team player pool – players born in 1992 -- as well. Tambi will bring six players born in 1992 on this trip. The U-16 roster also features a pair of sisters in Kristen and Samantha Mewis from Hanson, Mass. Kristen is a year older, although two inches shorter than her sister.
“The reason we are bringing 92s into the mix, is that in many cases, there is not a gigantic disparity between the 91s and 92s,” said Tambi. “There is only a one-year difference in age and it’s very conceivable that we may have several 92s that can compete against 91s in a World Cup. At the end of the day, we want to bring the best players together irrespective of whether they are 91s or 92s. If we can pick the best players, it ends up stretching the pool, and it will be a great experience for 92s that end up making the team.”
The U.S. U-16s have won both of its international matches this year, defeating a combined German team of U-16s and U-17s last March at The Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif., winning by 3-0 and 1-0 scores.
U.S. Under-17 Women’s National Team Roster
Buenos Aires, Argentina
December 7 –17, 2007
| Player | Pos. | Ht. | Birthdate | Hometown | Youth Club / High School |
| Alwine, Lauren | F | 5-8 | 02/24/90 | Elizabethtown, Pa. | Super Nova FC ’89 / Lower Dauphin |
| Brunache, Danielle | D | 5-9 | 02/21/90 | Belmont, Calif. | MVLA Mercury / St. Ignatius College Prep |
| Frierson, Katy | M | 5-6 | 04/08/90 | Homewood, Ala. | Mountain Brook SC / Homewood HS |
| Gordon, Shawna | M | 5-5 | 01/18/90 | Rialto, Calif. | Arsenal FC / Los Osos HS |
| Levin, Camille | D | 5-3 | 04/24/90 | Newport Coast, Calif. | Slammers FC / Tarbut V’ Torah |
| Mastroianni, Jill | GK | 5-7 | 09/15/90 | Durham, Conn. | South Central Freedom / Choate Rosemary Hall HS |
| Mathias, Merritt | F | 5-7 | 07/02/90 | Birmingham, Ala. | Vestavia Attack ’89 / Oak Mountain HS |
| McCarty, Tiffany | F | 5-4 | 12/12/90 | Laurel, Md. | Freestate Shooters / St. Johns College |
| Mercik, Rachel | M | 5-8 | 12/16/91 | El Dorado Hills, Calif. | Casa Boca Juniors / Oakridge HS |
| Nairn, Christine | M | 5-5 | 09/25/90 | Bowie, Md. | Free State Shooters / Archbishop Spalding |
| Olivier, Michelle | D | 5-9 | 05/04/90 | Roswell, Ga. | Concorde South / Wheeler |
| Parkhill, Cat | GK | 5-7 | 05/27/90 | Apple Valley, Minn. | PSA Panthers U17 / Eastview High School |
| Pember, Alyssa | D | 5-7 | 03/09/90 | Northport, N.Y. | Albertson Fury ’89 / Northport HS |
| Pressley, Toni | F | 5-11 | 02/19/90 | Melbourne, Fla. | Space Coast United / West Shore HS |
| Rape, Ashley | D | 5-8 | 05/23/90 | Dallas, Texas | Dallas Texas / Greenhill School |
| Short, Casey | M | 5-5 | 08/23/90 | Naperville, Ill. | Chicago Magic SC / Naperville Central HS |
| West, Beth | M | 5-3 | 01/24/90 | Centennial, Colo. | Real Colorado / Grandview HS |
| Wilson, Taylor | M | 5-5 | 06/11/90 | Rahway, N.J. | World Class / Rahway HS |
Coaching Staff
Head Coach: Dean Duerst Middleton, Wis.
Asst. Coach: Chris Sydney Phoenix, Ariz.
GK Coach: Steve Quinones Denver, Colo.
U.S. Under-16 Girl’s National Team Roster
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Dec. 7-16, 2007
| Player | Pos. | Ht. | Birth Date | Hometown | Youth Club / High School |
| Brooks, Amber | D | 5-6 | 01/23/91 | New Hope, Pa. | Arsenal World Class / The Pennington School |
| Bywaters, Zakiya | D | 5-1 | 07/24/91 | Las Vegas, Nev. | Neusport SC / Rancho HS |
| Colohan, Cloee | D | 5-8 | 06/01/91 | West Point, Utah | Black Diamond Park City SC / Clearfield HS |
| DiMartino, Victoria | F | 5-5 | 09/04/91 | Massapequa, N.Y. | Albertson Fury / Massapequa HS |
| Gaul, Alexa | GK | 5-7 | 05/15/91 | Naperville, Ill. | Eclipse Select / Neuqua Valley HS |
| Hovington, Briana | D | 5-4 | 06/23/92 | Loathian, Md. | SAC/AC Premier / Eleanor Roosevelt HS |
| Jurado, Megan | M | 5-1 | 02/25/91 | San Jose, Calif. | Pleasanton Rage / Piedmont Hills HS |
| Klei, Olivia | M | 5-6 | 03/20/91 | Pleasanton, Calif. | Pleasanton Rage / Foothill HS |
| Mewis, Kristen | M | 5-7 | 02/25/91 | Hanson, Mass. | SC Scorpions / Whitman Hanson |
| Mewis, Samantha | M | 5-9 | 10/09/92 | Hanson, Mass. | SC Scorpions / Whitman Hanson |
| Ohai, Kealia | M | 5-7 | 01/31/92 | Draper, Utah | Utah Avalanche / Alta HS |
| Oliver, Emily | GK | 5-7 | 02/07/92 | Flossmoor, Ill. | Windy City Pride / Homewood Flossmoor HS |
| Oyster, Megan | D | 5-7 | 09/03/92 | Naperville, Ill. | Windy City Pride / Sculine Middle School |
| Pathman, Mollie | D | 5-7 | 07/01/92 | Durham, N.C. | Triangle Futbol Club / Durham Academy |
| Rich, Alyssa | F | 5-5 | 01/28/91 | Cincinnati, Ohio | Ohio Elite Academy / Milford HS |
| Richmond, Jenna | M | 5-8 | 12/18/91 | Centerville, Va. | McLean Freedom / Centerville HS |
| Roberts, Julia | D | 5-9 | 02/07/91 | Fredrick, Md. | McLean Freedom / Urbana HS |
| Verloo, Courtney | F | 5-9 | 05/09/91 | Tualatin, Ore. | South Side Strikers / Tualatin HS |
Coaching Staff
Head Coach: Kazbek Tambi Paramus, New Jersey
Asst. Coach: Skender Gega Washington Township, New Jersey
GK Coach: Amy Griffin Seattle, Washington
