USA Women’s U20s and 2019 Hawk Eye Groups

USA Rugby has named 28 players to its Under-20s Women’s Performance Squad in fifteens and another 15 to its Hawk-Eye Player group in sevens.

Both programs are part of the USA Rugby high-performance pathway and are a vehicle for Senior team selection.

USA Rugby General Manager for Women’s High-Performance Emilie Bydwell said: “Having a U20 Performance Squad allows the national team to better support our top tier developing age grade players and providing them with additional resources to maximize individual growth and team performance in the annual summer competition. The model that we are currently implementing has a large net at the GHSAA level, the pool is narrowed at the U20, and then widens again at the Collegiate level, where U20 athletes not involved in the U20 Performance Squad, selection camp and competition can still participate.

“The Hawk Eye program is a pilot Long Term Athlete Development program that allows us to really invest in a focus group players over multiple years without the constraints of specific age groups. Both programs align with the core principle of investing in players year-round holistically, and moving away from event-based planning and development, maximizing the time between assemblies.”

Selections for the U20 Women’s Performance squad were made from prior year age-grade assemblies, nominations, scouting, and Regional Cup Tournaments. Tiana and Tiara A’au, McKenna Strong and Mary Jane Pasioles are on the Senior Women’s National Team’s Performance squad but are U20 eligible.

Six players selected to the Hawk-Eye Playing Group are eligible for the U20s program and four are eligible for the High School All-American program. Three have already debuted with the senior national team including Kayla Canett, Lauren Thunen, and Emily Henrich. The Hawk Eye program is fluid in age-range.

Players will receive annual plans which include Hawk-Eye specific, age-grade, and senior assemblies, as well as apprenticeships at senior events. Development plans, daily monitoring, and a customized strength & conditioning program will also be incorporated to supplement the current training environment. From the Hawk-Eye program, which is fluid in age-range, players can graduate to senior team programs.

USA U20 Women’s Performance Squad

*Part of the Senior Women’s National Team 15s Performance Squad.

Women’s Hawk-Eye Playing Group

*U20 Eligible
**High School All-American eligible

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