Many U.S. national team programs will be starting to ramp up their competitive schedules with the 2019 Pan American Games now a year out.
The 18th Pan Am Games are scheduled July 26 to Aug. 11 in Lima, Peru. A total of 423 events are scheduled in 39 sports.
All 41 nations that are members of the Pan American Sports Organization are expected to compete.
The 423 events constitute the largest number of medal events in a single edition of a Pan Am Games.
The 2019 Pan Am Games will spotlight three new sports: basque pelota, surfing and bodybuilding.
The official website for the 2019 Pan American Games is www.lima2019.pe.
Homegrown
The Chula Vista Elite Athlete Training Center will be the focal point for many U.S. Olympic and Paralympic programs based on the West Coast.
Archery, BMX, track and field, rugby, and para-track and field and para-tennis continue to utilize facilities as primary training bases at the sprawling site overlooking the Lower Otay Reservoir.
Field hockey, beach volleyball, softball, rowing, tennis, and soccer were many other sports highlighted during the facility’s long association as a U.S. Olympic training center. Many continue to use the facility on an on-going basis.
The 155-acre Chula Vista facility maintains an archery range, BMX courses, criterium course, strength training center, tennis courts, soccer fields, track and field complex, field hockey pitch and sand volleyball courts.
Besides U.S. Olympic and Paralympic programs, the Chula Vista facility is also used as a training site by international organizations and college sports programs.
The Chula Vista facility remains a hub for activities for the U.S. rugby sevens teams, both men’s and women’s.
The Women’s Collegiate All-American Sevens assembled for a three-day training camp June 13-15 in preparation for the Women’s Academy Tournament later in the week. Twelve athletes participated in the high performance environment.
During camp, graduating student-athletes were evaluated for 2018-19 Women’s Sevens contracts while younger players were scouted for future senior high performance training camps, the developmental Hawk Eye training program and Falcons tours.
There was also a clear look into the future with coaches and staff on the lookout for athletes who could potentially contribute to depth charts for Team USA in the upcoming 2020 Tokyo and 2024 Paris Olympic Games.
The 12 student-athletes invited to the high performance camp included Zye Crittington (Army West Point), Emily Roskopf (Quinipiac University), Shamira Robles (American International College), Mikah Maples (Quinipiac University), Bayleigh Gable (Army West Point), Becca Jane Rosko (Dartmouth University), K.B. Broughton (Life University), Natalie Fuller (University of Washington), Stefani Vicino-Bergerhouse (Chico State University), Mallery Billingly (Life University), Ilona Maher (Quinipiac University) and Jetta Owens (Virginia Tech University).
“The coaches have put together a challenging camp to solicit the best of these student-athletes,” explained Alex Magleby, who serves as general manager of high performance and national teams. This is also an important opportunity to help develop the next generation of international coaches. We look forward to seeing how far the players and coaches can get in a short amount of time, to lay the framework for future senior national team successes. The acceleration of improvement over the assembly will be the key measurable to identify if we can get better at getting better, more quickly.”
Magleby said the challenges of high performance camps force players in the U23 age group to get to know each other in a short period of time, be tested to meet the demands of high level competition while learning how to showcase individual decision-making skills and athleticism, and learn how to balance varying levels of experience and adapt to the nature of senior level training.
Following the high performance camp, the Women’s Collegiate All-American Sevens will compete in a seven-team Women’s Academy Tournament at the Chula Vista facility Saturday and Sunday, June 16-17. The tournament will bring together six National Development Academy teams, along with the Collegiate All-Americans, for a round-robin competition spanning the two days.
The Women’s Academy Tournament will include six academy teams plus the Women’s Collegiate All-American Sevens. The teams will compete in a round-robin format to allow players to showcase their skills for the opportunity to earn 2018-19 residency contracts or to play for an open spot for the Rugby World Cup Sevens 2018 High Performance Camp.
The the six academy teams, ranging in age from 18-25 with a diverse skill level, include Atavus, Armed Forces, Northeast Olympic Development Academy, Stars Academy, Santa Barbara Rugby Academy and CCIG (California Capital & Investment Group).
The tournament is designed to help players without residency contracts bridge the gap between amateur play and national team selection.
“This tournament is perfectly timed for Women’s High Performance,” explained Emilie Bydwell, who serves as general manager for Women’s High Performance. “It gives us an opportunity to assess athletes for the 2018-19 season, whilst also providing playing opportunities for contracted athletes that did not travel to France or need more minutes ahead of the World Cup. We need to continue fostering assemblies for our athletes to compete domestically in the sevens game and our goal is to develop a more consistent framework for this to happen.”
The upcoming Hawk Eye Development Program residency camp is scheduled July 23 to Aug. 9 at the Chula Vista Elite Athlete Training Center.
2018 Rugby World Cup Sevens
The United States will be among 40 teams competing in the 2018 Rugby World Cup Sevens tournament July 20-22 at AT&T Park in San Francisco. The event is the first Rugby World Cup to be held on American soil.
Twenty-four men’s and 16 women’s teams will compete for the title of World Cup champion.
Games are seven minutes each half with just seven players per team on the field.
Participating nations/territories include Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, England, Fiji, France, Hong Kong, Ireland, Jamaica, Japan, Kenya, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Russia, Samoa, Scotland, South Africa, Spain, Tonga, Uganda, Uruguay, the United States, Wales and Zimbabwe.
“We’re excited about what this landmark Rugby World Cup will mean for the sport of rugby in the United States, and feel there is no better city to host it than San Francisco,” said Rosie Spaulding, who serves as general manager of the 2018 Rugby World Cup Sevens tournament.
Both the USA men’s and women’s Eagles teams wrapped up competition at the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series June 8-10 in Paris, the last stop before the Rugby World Cup Sevens 2018 in San Francisco.
The U.S. women’s team closed out the Paris tournament with a dominating 28-7 win over Fiji to place fifth in the field. Lauren Doyle, Ilona Maher, Kristen Thomas and Naya Tapper each scored tries while captain Nicole Heavirland and Alev Kelter each recorded conversions.
The try was the 50th in her career for Thomas.
The women Eagles finished 4-2 overall in the Paris tournament.
“We had a great win to finish the tournament and that’s what we wanted to do. We came up just short against Canada during the quarters but played really well against Spain and Fiji. We wanted to end the World Series on a high note with everyone contributing and we got that.”
The Americans defeated Japan, 24-19, and topped Spain, 21-14, while dropping a 14-5 decision to host France in pool play. The women Eagles lost to Canada, 26-24, in the knockout round but finished strong with consolation matches against Spain (33-5) and Fiji (28-7), both U.S. victories.
Doyle crossed the tryline twice in the playoff fifth-place semifinal win over Spain while Tapper scored a late try in the quarterfinal game against Canada, one of her two scores in the game. Kelter had nine points (try, conversion) in the pool-round win over Spain while Ryan Carlyle scored two tries in the opening win over Japan.
Walker is looking forward to his team making a statement at the upcoming World Cup tournament in the Bay Area.
“The World Series is over but now we look forward to a very exciting tournament on home soil in the World Cup,” the women’s Eagles coach said. “We’ll prepare well with the time we have and be ready to go once it does come around. The message to the players is stay focused, regroup and revitalize ourselves for San Francisco.”
The USA men’s Eagles wrapped up competition with a somewhat disappointing sixth-place finish at the Paris Sevens event. The Americans had entered the tournament ranked fifth in the current series standings.
Battling injuries and players held out of the lineup due to precaution, the Eagles fielded a roster of nine players for its fifth-place match against Fiji, losing 28-7.
The U.S. Eagles opened the Paris Sevens tournament with wins over Argentina (26-7) and France (26-12) and a draw against England (21-21) but suffered a disappointing 33-7 setback to New Zealand in the quarterfinals.
However, the Americans bounced back with an impressive 28-7 win over Spain in the fifth-place quarterfinals to qualify for the matchup against Fiji.
The U.S. Eagles finished sixth overall in the series standings, one place below last year. Head coach Mike Friday said his squad will focus its energies on the upcoming competition in San Francisco, which will serve as the grand stage to culminate the series.
“We’ll draw a line in the sand on the series,” Friday said. “While we didn’t achieve what we wanted in a top four finish, we have so many positives to take from a season with so many injuries. This adversity has given opportunity for our players to grow in experience and responsibility and we have seen a number of new faces make an impact. We have also seen players increase their positional flexibility making us a more unpredictable team to play.”
Stephen Tomasin scored two tries in the win over Argentina while Carlin Isles and Martin Iosefo each scored one try. Madison Hughes kicked two conversions while Tomasin also added a conversion.
Isles had two tries in the win over France while Folau Niua and Tomasin each scored one try. Hughes tacked on three conversion kicks.
The U.S. team rallied in heroic fashion with two tries in the final minute of play to force a draw with England in the teams’ final pool-round match. Hughes and Kevon Williams each crossed the tryline to fuel the dramatic finish for the American squad.
Hughes, the team’s captain, finished the match with one try and three conversions to lead the team with eight points. Niua and Williams each finished the match with five points with a try apiece.
“We needed that collective grit in the last game to claw ourselves back to get a draw,” Friday noted. “We were on the end of a host of questionable decisions and interpretations but credit to the boys as they held their nerve and cool to stay in the arm wrestle and get that draw.”
Friday called the three pool-round games part of a “tough week.”
“We battled in every game to get the results we needed to top the pool and get ourselves into the cup quarterfinal,” he said, noting he was pleased with the collective resilience shown his team in the match against England
Brett Thompson, Tomasin and Iosefo each scored tries in the win over Spain while Hughes scored three conversions. Tomasin also made one conversion.
Isles scored the lone U.S. try in the loss to Fiji while Niua had one conversion.
Isles entered the Paris Sevens event leading the men’s Eagles in scoring with 217 points, followed by Niua with 141 points. Other scoring leaders for the U.S. squad included Iosefo with 108 points, Pacifica native Danny Barrett (Legion?) with 87 points and Hughes with 78 points.
Rugby 15s
A U.S. men’s rugby 15 doubleheader will entertain fans Saturday, June 16, at Rice University in Houston as the men’s junior All-American team takes on rival Canada in the finale of their World Rugby Trophy qualifier at 3:30 p.m. CDT, and the U.S. men’s senior team hosts sixth-ranked Scotland in an international friendly at 8 p.m. CDT.
The U.S. men’s senior team is coming off a 62-13 victory against Russia on June 9 to improve to 6-0 this year.
Among the players named to the American squad are 12 members from Major League Rugby teams: prop Paul Mullen (Houston SaberCats), flankers John Quill (Glendale Raptors) and Hanco Germishuys (Austin Elite), No. 8 Cam Dolan (San Diego Legion), scrum half Shaun Davies (Glendale Raptors), centers Bryce Campbell (Glendale Raptors) and Paul Lasike (Utah Warriors), reserves Dylan Fawsitt (Glendale Raptors), Ben Landry (Glendale Raptors), Nate Augspurger (San Diego Legion), Will Magie (Glendale Raptors) and Dylan Audsley (San Diego Legion).
Germishuys is tied for the MLR lead with six tries while Magie is tied for the MLR lead with 19 conversions.
“Despite a few early challenges, the chemistry of this group worked well last week – even though we’d only spent a relatively short amount of time together as a unit,” U.S. head coach Gary Gold said. “We’ve had another week to build on our rhythm as a collective and grow in our individual roles which will undoubtedly help us against a quality side in Scotland.”
Scotland began its tour of the Americas with a 48-10 win over Canada. The match against Scotland is the second of three test matches in June for the U.S. men’s senior team. The Americans will travel north of the border to take on Canada June 23 in Wanderers Grounds, Halifax, Nova Scotia.
The U.S. men’s junior team will have one last chance to qualify for international competition in August in its two-game qualifying series against Canada. The Canadians defeated the Americans, 60-22, on June 12.
The U.S. can still qualify for the World Rugby Trophy if it performs well enough to earn a higher aggregate score than Canada’s U20 team.
“We did not execute well at all,” U.S. junior men’s head coach Scott Bracken conceded following the June 12 setback. “The talented Canadian side capitalized on our mistakes and turned them into points.”
Among the players named to the U.S. squad for the second match-up in a week against the Canadians are three players off MLR clubs: flanker Devin Short (San Diego Legion) and reserves Will Waguespack (New Orleans Gold) and Max Dacey (Glendale Raptors).
Additionally, Ethan McVeigh of the Old Mission Beach Athletic Club Wallabies has been named as a reserve.
Major League Rugby has emerged as a driving force behind developing players for USA Rugby.
More than half of the 30 players named to the team’s training camp roster in advance of the June test series were from MLR rosters, including seven from the San Diego Legion: Audsley, Augspurger, Ben Cima, Dolan, Tony Lamborn, Siaosi Mahoni and Ryan Matyas.
Magie and Augspurger rank among Team USA’s top four returning point-scorers.
Legion center Anthony Salaber, who scored on a 40-yard sprint in the team’s 31-24 win over the visiting Utah Warriors on April 29 in its home opener.
Salaber, the 2012 High School Player of the Year out of Dixon High School, led Cal-Berkeley Bears to the last two Varsity Cup national championship titles
He and Legion teammate Short represented a young U.S. Falcons team in January’s Sudamérica Rugby Sevens in Uruguay.
Salaber was a recent invitee to a U.S. men’s sevens training camp at the Chula Vista Elite Athlete Training Center.
“It was a great experience, I was really honored to be invited there,” Salaber said. “It was a fabulous experience to play with the top players who were there. We’ve got a lot of good guys who play sevens. We’ve got a fluid team here.”
MLR has announced its playoff format to conclude its inaugural season. The top four teams will meet in a semifinal doubleheader June 30 at Infinity Park in Glendale, Colo. (4 and 6:30 p.m. PDT starts).
The two surviving teams will in the MLR championship game July 7 at Torero Stadium, starting at 6 p.m. PDT.
All MLR postseason matches will air on the CBS Sports Network.
The San Diego Legion currently sits fourth in the seven-team league standings with a 3-3 record and 16 total points. The Glendale Raptors top the league standings with a 6-0 record but are currently tied with the Seattle Seawolves (6-1) with 29 total points.
Austin Elite Rugby is third in the table with a 3-4 record and 18 total points.
San Diego hosts Austin on Sunday, June 17, at 5 p.m. at Torero Stadium in a matchup that could decide third place in the standings.
Archery: taking aim at SoCal Showdown
More than 550 archers took the field at the 2018 Doinker SoCal Showdown official practice on June 15 at the Easton Archery Center of Excellence at the Chula Vista Elite Athlete Training Center in the third of four United States Archery Team Qualifier Series Events in the race for national ranking points.
Elimination and final rounds in men’s and women’s recurve/compound bow are scheduled June 17.
Youth Olympic Game Trials are scheduled on site for June 18.
Soccer: U.S. youth national teams get kick-start in Chula Vista
Though the United States will not be competing in this year’s FIFA World Cup, the Chula Vista Elite Athlete Training Center continues to be a proving ground for future teams – both men and women.
The U.S. Under-14 Girls National Team gathered May 26 to June 2 for a training camp at the Chula Vista Elite Athlete Training Center as head coach April Kater called up 36 players — 27 players born in 2004, eight born in 2005 and one in 2006.
The 36 players hailed from 27 different youth clubs with multiple players coming from the San Jose Earthquakes (four), Beach FC (three) out of Southern California, MVLA (two) out of Northern California, NTH Tophat (two) out of Georgia and the San Diego Surf (two) and Real So Cal (two) also out of Southern California.
Goalkeeper Nona Reason (San Clemente) and defender Maggie Taitano (Carlsbad) represented the Surf.
The U.S. Under-18 and Under-19 Women’s National Teams held concurrent training camps at the Chula Vista Elite Athletic Training Center from May 5-12.
U-19 WNT head coach Keri Sarver called up 24 players — 22 of whom were in college and two of whom were still playing youth club. Seventeen players were born in 1998 with seven born in 1999.
For the U-18 WNT, head coach Jaime Frias called up 24 players, with one born in 1999 and the remainder in 2000. In the U-18 camp were 10 college players and 14 youth club players.
All 48 players in this camp are age-eligible for the 2018 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup in France in August should they merit selection. The age cut-off for the World Cup is players born on or after Jan. 1, 1998.
Stanford defender Sierra Enge (Cardiff) represented the San Diego region in the U-18 WNT camp.
U.S. Under-17 Men’s National Team head coach John Hackworth called 24 players for a nine-day training camp at the Chula Vista Elite Athlete Training Center from Feb. 24 to March 4. During the camp, the U.S. group played a pair of games against older birth year players from LA Galaxy (2000, 2001) and mix of youth players from Liga MX side Club Tijuana (2000, 2001, 2002).
The U-17 age group, consisting of players born on or after Jan. 1, 2002, recently moved up from the U-15 level and will spend two years as the U-17 MNT before moving on to the U-19 level. The group took part in its third National Team camp of the 2018-19 cycle, after the player pool got an early start to the two-year slate of programming at the 2017 Men’s Nike International Friendlies, followed by its inclusion in the first ever Men’s Youth National Team Summit at the start of the year.
Hackworth said the camp allowed staff the opportunity to continue to teach objectives in building this pool of players.
Of the 24 players brought into camp, 23 had registered at least one season in the U.S. Soccer Development Academy.
Eleven players on the roster participated in the 2017 CONCACAF U-15 Championship last August as the USA finished as tournament runners up.
The 2017 tournament, held at the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla., featured 39 nations and more than 700 youth players .
The young American squad rolled through pool play with victories over Canada (2-0), Costa Rica (4-1) and Trinidad & Tobago (6-0).
The U.S. team defeated Panama, 3-0, but lost to Mexico, 2-0, on two late goals in the championship match.
In current international competitions, the U.S. U-17 Women’s National Team defeated Mexico, 3-2, to win the 2018 CONCACAF Women’s U-17 Championship June 12 in Bradenton, Fla.
The CONCACAF title was the fourth for the United States and sends the American squad to the 2018 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup this fall in Uruguay.
Midfielder Hannah Bebar and forward Sunshine Fontes each scored goals to allow the U.S squad to tie the game, 2-2, while Maya Doms hit the game-winner midway through the second half.
The Americans finished pool play with a 3-0 record after topping Costa Rica (4-0), Bermuda (10-1) and Canada (1-0). Reilyn Turner scored the game-winning goal against Canada in the 65th minute in the team’s final Group B game June 8.
Canada finished second in the Group B standings with a 2-1 record, followed by Costa Rica (1-2) and Bermuda (0-3).
Canada claimed CONCACAF’s third and final World Cup qualifying berth with a 2-1 victory against Haiti in the third-place match prior to the USA-Mexico final.
The USA will begin its U-17 Women’s World Cup odyssey on Nov. 14 against Cameroon and will face 2016 U-17 Women’s World Cup champion North Korea on Nov. 17 before finishing group play against Germany on Nov. 21.
Beach volleyball: Team USA draws line in the sand
Beach volleyball was made for television and the Olympic Games, perhaps in that order. In any event, it’s been a good marriage for the two since the Summer Games added the sport in the 1996 Atlanta Games (it made its debut as a demonstration sport in 1992).
The Chula Vista Elite Athlete Training Center continues to turn out Olympic hopefuls.
The 2018 U19 Junior Beach National Team will compete in three international competitions and two domestic competitions beginning in May and ending in October.
They include:
NORCECA Qualifier for Youth Olympic Games – TBC – May 25-28, 2018 in Cuba
USAV Collegiate Beach Open – June 20-22, 2018 in Chula Vista, California
FIVB U19 World Championships – June 26-July 1, 2018 in Nanjing, China
USAV Beach High Performance Championships – July 30-August 1, 2018 in Hermosa Beach, California
Youth Olympic Games – October 6-18, 2018 in Buenos Aires, Argentina
Athletes are in preparation for the big event at the end of the schedule: the Youth Olympic Games in Argentina.
Perhaps not surprisingly, athletes are drawn from the Sunbelt, specifically Southern California.
Names to get familiar with over the coming months include Devon Newberry (Santa Monica), Lindsey Sparks (Huntington Beach), Tim Brewster (Manhattan Beach), John Schwengel (Santa Monica), Maya Hrvey (Hermosa Beach), Meg Kraft (San Diego/Torrey Pines High School), Maddi Kriz (Austin, Texas), Delaynie Maple (Temecula/Great Oak High School), Jason Gibbs (Bellaire, Texas), Marcus Partain (Pacific Palisades) and Miles Partain (Pacific Palisades).
Athletes were identified for the JBNT program after medaling at the USAV U19 World Championship Trials held at the Chula Vista Elite Athlete Training Center last December.
Team USA also includes more familiar names on its national team roster. Among the women are Nicole Branagh, Kelly Claes, Lauren Fendrick, Sara Hughes, April Ross, Summer Ross and Brooke Sweat.
Men’s team members include Theo Brunner, Taylor Crabb, Phil Dalhausser, Ryan Dohertym Jake Gibb, John Hyden and Nick Lucena.
A2 team members include Emily Day, Alix Klineman, Kerri Walsh Jennings and Casey Patterson.
The U.S. beach national program training team includes Betsi Flint, Irene Hesterm Kelly Larsen, Jace Pardon and Emily Stockman among the women and Billy Allen, Avery Drost, Miles Evans, Bill Kolinske, John Mayer, Stafford Slick and Eric Zaun.
USA Volleyball is hosting the 2018 High Performance Collegiate Beach Open June 20-21 at the Chula Vista Elite Athlete Training Center.
For more information, visit the following websites:
https://www.olympic.org/buenos-aires-2018
USA Track & Field National Championship Schedule
| Jun. 15-17 | USATF Junior Outdoor Championships |
| Jun. 21-24 | USATF Outdoor Championships |
| Jun. 26 – Jul. 1 | USATF National Youth Outdoor Championships |
| Jun. 30 – Jul. 1 | Masters Combined Events Championship & Womens Open Decathlon Championship |
| Jul. 4 | USATF 10 km Championships |
| Jul. 21 | USATF 50 Mile Trail Championships |
| Jul. 23-29 | USATF Hershey National Junior Olympic Track & Field Championships |
| Jul. 26-29 | USATF Masters Outdoor Championships |
BMX: 2018 World championship wraps up
Veterans Corben Sharrah and Connor Fields qualified for the world championships June 5-9 in Azerbaijan. Sharrah, who out-pointed Fields 1,196 to 1,109 to finish atop the U.S. men’s 2018 power rankings, finished fifth in the international field with a time of 38.091 seconds.
France’s Sylvain Andre (31.476) and Joris Daudet (31.482) finished first and second, respectively.
Fields finished 29th out of 37 competitors; U.S. teammate Jared Garcia (sixth in the U.S. men’s power rankings) fared better with a 19th place-finish.
Alise Post topped the USA women’s 2018 power rankings with 1,650 points – well ahead of runner-up Dani Geroge.
Chula Vista Elite Athlete Training Center: if you visit
The visitors center and team shop are starting points when visiting the facility. General public hours are Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday hours vary by season. Guided tours are also available.
The Chula Vista Elite Athlete Training Center is located at 2800 Olympic Parkway in Chula Vista.
For more information on programs, including private events, and opportunities available at the Chula Vista Elite Athlete Training Center, call (619) 656-1500 or email info@easchulavista.com.
The team shop staff can be reached at (619) 482-6220 or email at TeamShop@EASChulaVista.com.
The Chula Vista Elite Athlete Training Center’s website is located at trainatchulavista.com.
