Some talented women, who attend the United States Naval Academy and play rugby for the Academy, have been individually asked to be members of a team that will represent the USA in Rugby 7s at the World University Games in July, 2013, in Kazan, Russia. This is an incredible honor!
As many of you know, the World University Games, like the Olympic Games, are a two-week multi-sport, multi-cultural event, which provides an once-in-a-lifetime experience for the student-athletes who are privileged to participate. Indeed, The World University Games, put on by The International Federation of University Sports, are second in the world only to the Olympics in the number of sports offered, and number of countries and athletes participating.
The USA World University Games Women’s Rugby 7s Team would be part of an approximately 450 student-athlete delegation from the United States. This summer is the first time Rugby 7s is included in The Games, and it is a chance for these players to make history by representing the USA and competing for a medal there! USA is in Pool B, along with Great Britain, Italy, Belgium, Brazil and fiChina. Pool A consists of Russia, Japan, France, Canada and Ukraine.
It will cost approximately $55,000.00 for twelve student-athletes and four staff to prepare for, travel to and participate in The Games, including room and board in The Athletes’ Village. We must raise this money by May 15, 2013, and we are asking for your tax-deductible support.
USA Rugby is generously supporting our fundraising efforts. Please use the following link to make your tax-deductible contribution to this enriching opportunity, which unquestionably will contribute in many ways to the leadership development of these outstanding student-athletes: https://www.coloradogives.org/TeamUSAWUG-7s
The roster from which the players will be selected, is below, with bold indicating those players under consideration for selection to USA World University Games Women’s Rugby 7s Team. Staff is also listed. There is also some additional information on the World University Games.
We are thrilled to share this opportunity with you, and thank you in advance for your generous support!
Sue Parker Jenny Jaspers Hansen
Head Coach Assistant Coach
sparker@parkeriplaw.com jjhansen9@gmail.com
The following Student-Athletes play rugby for the U.S. Naval Academy. Individuals under consideration to be a part of TEAM USA at the World University Games are bolded:
Brooke Amoroso ‘13
Maria Correa ‘15
Tayler Davidson ‘16
Phoebe Kotlikoff ‘13
Nicolette Estradan ‘15
Cathryn Delong ‘16
Lora Thomerson ‘13
Kelli Freer ‘15
Rachel Griffin ‘16
Nicole Castro ‘14
Julia Hardgrove ‘15
Tautiana Harriott ‘16
Juliann Hitt ‘14
Naticha Jamordee ‘15
Amanda Jackson ‘16
Christa Kamon ‘14
Lauren Jarreau ‘15
Breanna Kolbe ‘16
Karissa Kleinschmidt ‘14
Roberta Lee ‘15
Resfa Latigo ‘16
Kacey Liscomb ‘14
Violeta Lopez ‘15
Alexandra Sherenco ‘16
Kay Moore ‘14
Taylor Lovelace ‘15
Sierra Snapp ‘16
Erika Pedersen ‘14
Loren Moran ‘15
Alexandra Thomas ‘16
Ashley Pulido ‘14
Kristina Milman ‘15
Natalie Wallace ’16
Allie Sawyer ‘14
Samantha Billy ’16
Ashley Paek ‘16
Riacca Slater ‘14
Rachel Busiek ‘16
Gearna Verde-Burke ‘16
Katherine Smith ‘14
Samantha Casey ‘16
Hailey Brunette ‘15
Christina Castro ‘16
USA World University Games Women’s Rugby 7s Staff
Sue Parker – Head Coach
Julie Hogan – Team Manager
Jenny Jaspers Hansen – Assistant Coach
Dee Jones – Certified Athletic Trainer
ABOUT THE WORLD UNIVERSITY GAMES:
The World University Games is the American term for “Universiade,” an international multi-sport event organized for university athletes by the International University Sports Federation (FISU). The Universiade is an international sporting and cultural festival, staged every two years in a different city around the world, representing both winter and summercompetitions. It is second only in importance to the Olympic Games.
THE USA TEAM
The 2013 Summer Games in Kazan, Russia will have U.S. representation in up to 27 sports by over 550 people which will be, by far, the largest American team in the history of U.S. participation in the Games. By contrast, the 2009 American team only had 118 athletes and staff in Belgrade, Serbia and the 2011 Shenzhen, China Games had 410 American representatives. The following 27 sports competitions are open for U.S. representation in Kazan:
- Athletics/Track and Field
- Basketball
- Football (Soccer)
- Artistic Gymnastics
- Rhythmic Gymnastics
- Swimming
- Diving
- Water Polo
- Tennis
- Volleyball
- Judo
- Table Tennis
- Badminton
- Beach Volleyball
- Belt Wrestling
- Boxing
- Chess
- Fencing
- Canoe Sprint
- Field Hockey
- Rugby 7s
- Sambo
- Sport Shooting
- Synchronized Swimming
- Rowing
- Weightlifting
- Wrestling
AMERICAN SUCCESS AT THE WORLD UNIVERSITY GAMES:
The U.S.A. won a total of 50 medals at the 2011 Shenzhen Summer Games, finishing 5 th in the world. This is up from 37 medals in the 2009 Belgrade Games. Many now-famous athletes have represented the U.S.A. in previous WUG competitions prior to gaining stardom in the Olympics and professional sports. These include such elite athletes as Michael Johnson (Track), Charles Barkley and Larry Bird (Men’s Basketball), Matt Biondi and Michael Phelps (Swimming), and Lisa Leslie (Women’s Basketball). It will be exciting to see who the next future American star will be from this current pool of U.S. athletes.
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This post leaves me with a lot of unanswered questions. How is the team selected? Why are they all from Navy? Why was selection not opened up to students from other schools? What does it mean that USA Rugby is “generously supporting” the team if they still have to raise $55,000?
I guess it bothers me that there is a lot of support-Team-USA implied in this post when clearly this is not a Team USA effort. This is a NAVY endeavor. A little more clarity would be appreciated. Nonetheless, best of luck. It sounds like a fun opportunity for the players.