USA vs Canada Amping Up

Canada name Can-Am squad
by Rugby Canada

Canada National Senior Women’s Team Head Coach Quentin Fyffe and his staff have named a squad of 30 players who will travel to Blaine, Minnesota to compete in the Can-Am tournament later this month. The squad will play two matches against their American counterparts on August 27th and 29th.

The Can-Am games will provide an opportunity for Fyffe, who was appointed head coach of the program in April, to see his players compete against some stringent US opponents. Player performances in this event will prove crucial in Fyffe’s selections for his team that will travel to the United Kingdom in November 2007.

“It is important that we work together with our neighbors to the south, who are our most economical resource. We will be working in conjunction with the US to hopefully expand the tournament to include a broader spectrum of athletes in 2008,” explains Fyffe.

The Can-Am is the first step in the creation of an event that will be similar to the men’s North America Four rugby tournament between four squads from the US and Canada. Players from each team will begin arriving in Minnesota on Friday, August 24th, and will train together over the weekend prior to their first meeting on August 27th.

“The Can-Am Tournament will provide us with a great opportunity to see more players compete at the international level,” stated Anne Barry, Director of Women’s Rugby for USA Rugby.

“At this point in the Women’s Rugby World Cup (WRWC) cycle, we can begin testing our new players against our neighboring Canadian rivals.

“When fully implemented, this competition will give our players much needed high-level elite competitions in preparation for the 2010 WRWC.”

The USA squad will be coached by USA Women’s National Team Head Coach Kathy Flores and veteran Women Eagles’ center Candi Orsini. The coaches have selected a pool of 31 players who will train together beginning August 24th. The final roster for each match of the competition will be determined following the weekend training session. “This event provides an opportunity for not only player development but coaching development,” said Flores. “For our country to be successful at the next World Cup, both players and coaches need to increase their level of understanding of the international game together.”

USA and Canada Women Experiment
via Goff (subscription required)

August 9, 2007 – With the USA v. Canada women’s games in just under three weeks not being full test matches, head coach Kathy Flores will take the opportunity to experiment a little.

The games were initially expected to be a women’s version of the NA4, and it is symbolic of the somewhat murky Can-Am relationship in women’s rugby that it didn’t happen – consider that Rugby Canada expected the USA to spend $80,000 to play in the 2005 Canada Cup, but couldn’t bring an expanded squad to Minnesota for six days (in fairness to the Canadians, they have always been willing to send a team to American soil). Now it’s one squad against another in a two-game series, but it’s got to start somewhere.

“It is important that we work together with our neighbors to the south, who are our most economical resource,” said Canada head coach Quentin Fyffe, a veteran of USA v. Canada men’s games who scored a try against the USA in 2003. “We will be working in conjunction with the US to hopefully expand the tournament to include a broader spectrum of athletes in 2008.”

Rest of the article here.

CANADA ROSTER TO FACE USA

FORWARDS:
Leslie Cripps (United Kingdom)
Lesley McKenzie (British Columbia)
Marlene Donaldson (British Columbia)
Dawn MacDonald (British Columbia)
Marie-Eve Brindamour–Carignan (New Zealand)
Gillian Florence (Quebec)
Jennifer Kish (Alberta)
Katie Murray (Alberta)
Kim Donaldson (British Columbia)
Natalie Bendavid (Ontario)
Heather McDonald (Alberta)
Paige Burdett (Alberta)
Megan Gibbs (Ontario)
Barbara Mervin (British Columbia)
Heather Jaques (British Columbia)
Kelly Russell (Ontario)

BACKS:
Laura Stoughton (Alberta)
Ashley Patzer (Alberta)
Sarah Ulmer (United Kingdom)
Mandy Marchak (British Columbia)
Maria Gallo (Alberta)
Rosie Cobbett (British Columbia)
Julianne Zussman (Quebec)
Julia Sugawara (British Columbia)
Meaghan Howat (Ontario)
Marie-Josee Blais (Quebec)
Brooke Hilditch (Ontario)
Heather Moyse (Ontario)
Cheryl Phillips (Ontario)
Megan Mutrie (British Columbia)

USA Squad
Forwards
Stacy Baker (Philadelphia)
Stacy Bennett (NOVA)
Jamie Burke (Berkeley)
Lisa Butts (Unattached)
Meg Crapster–Pregont (Cornell University)
Mel Denham (Beantown)
Liz Dilley (Washington)
Farrah Douglas (Chicago Northshore)
Carrie Dubray (New York)
Allyson Hemstreet (Berkeley)
Heather Jennings (Seattle)
Lynelle Kugler (Glendale)
Jamie Lange (Glendale)
Jenny Menke (Minnesota Valkyries)
Chris Trucano (Twin Cities)
Mari Wallace (Berkeley)
Kristen Zdancewicz (Minnesota Valkyries)

Backs
Katy Hertel (Minnesota Valkyries)
Mel Kanuk (Maryland).
Ashley Kmiecik (Emerald City)
Sara Leary (Cleveland).
Vanesha McGee (Philadelphia)
San Juanita Moreno (ORSU).
Elise Myer (Philadelphia)
Jossy Tseng (Stanford)
Kitt Wagner (Beantown)
Maura Weikman (New York)
Sheara Williamson (Philadelphia)
Rose Whitmore (Berkeley)
Wendy Young (Austin)

Zdanczewicz Accepts Leadership Challenge
via Goff (subscription required)

August 9, 2007 – During the Women’s World Cup last year some industrious soul chose to ask the USA players a bunch of goofy questions. Among them was, who is the little sister of the team? The players chose two, Jamie Burke and Kristin Zdanczewicz.

Both players had made a huge impact on what was a veteran team, and also brought with them a fun-loving intensity to the game borne out of the fact they didn’t have any leadership pressure on them.

Oh how things change. Now entering into the two-game series with a Canadian XV in two weeks, both players now are de-facto leaders. Head coach Kathy Flores didn’t mention them by name, but her tone was clear:

“There is some expectation for the players involved in the last cycle to step forward,” she said. “But only time will tell.”

Burke, the prop from the Berkeley All Blues, and Zdanczewicz, the flanker from the Minnesota Valkyries (both USA U23 products,) and the All Blues hooker Mari Wallace should, really, take ownership of this team right now.

“I do think about the leadership aspect,” Zdanczewicz told ERugbyNews. “It’s not something I am worried about or anything. But I also know I am not a vocal person. When things need to be said I have said them. I like to lead by example.”

Rest of the article here.