The United States Under-17 Women’s National Team has gathered at The Home Depot Center for its final domestic training camp before the Under-17 Women’s World Cup in Azerbaijan, which kicks off on September 22nd. A news item has yet to be posted on USSoccer.com, but there is photographic confirmation of this camp in the form of a photo gallery of player and staff portraits at ISIPhoto’s website. ISIPhoto is the primary professional photography service used by U.S. Soccer. The list of players whose portraits were taken is included after the jump.
[Note: When an official roster is released, there will be a follow-up article.]
The one notable absence from the portraits is midfielder SARAH ROBINSON, who did not travel to Eastern Europe, but instead competed with her club squad at USYSA Nationals. Without an official roster, it is unclear if she has been called-up (and accepted the call-up) or not.
Midfielder JOANNA BOYLES, who was listed on the original roster for the camp in Eastern Europe, but did not travel with the squad is apparently at this final domestic camp.
In addition to players recently in the mix, goalkeeper CLAIRE WHEATLEY has been called-up. Wheatley, a verbal commit to the University of Illinois, was in one previous camp with the U-17s, back in April 2011 (USSoccer.com).
During this camp, the U-17s are scheduled to play China’s U-17 WNT in two tune-up friendlies.
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UNOFFICIAL CAMP ROSTER
All players listed have their portraits photos in this ISIPhotos.com gallery. Two players, Gabbi Miranda and Lauren Kaskie, are mislabeled.
Goalkeepers (4):
Jane Campbell
Cassie Miller
Morgan Stearns
Claire Wheatley
Defenders (7):
Brittany Basinger
Maddie Bauer
Mandy Freeman
Gabbi Miranda
Lizzy Raben
Morgan Reid
Claire Wagner
Midfielders (5):
Morgan Andrews
Jo Boyles
Lauren Kaskie
Arielle Ship*
Morgan Stanton
Forwards (7):
Emily Bruder
Summer Green
Darian Jenkins
Amber Munerlyn
Toni Payne**
Midge Purce
Andi Sullivan***
*Ship is listed as a midfielder, but appears to have been used as a forward in the Slovenia match. Her usual club and high school position is as a forward.
**Payne has been used in both midfield and forward roles.
***In the roster for the camp in Eastern Europe, Sullivan was listed as a midfielder, but during qualifying, she was primarily, if not entirely, used in a forward position.
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MORE ON ROBINSON
There has yet tobe any official word on Sarah Robinson’s current status with the squad, so whether she is in the mix or not remains uncertain.
Robinson was featured in a local news article on her club team back in early August. Regarding her choosing the national championships over the trip to Eastern Europe:
Entering her junior year at Gunn High, Robinson has already made a verbal commitment to Stanford University. She passed up a chance to play for the U.S. Under-17 Women’s National Team at a tournament in Eastern Europe so she could play with the Lightning at the national championships.
“I felt it was the right thing to do,” Robinson said. “We did pretty well, so I’m pretty happy with (my decision).”
Originally, I had interpreted the “passed up a chance to play for the U.S. Under-17 Women’s National Team at a tournament in Eastern Europe” to mean just the camp in Eastern Europe, on the assumption that this was a typical local news error. But, perhaps that is referring to the actual U-20 Women’s World Cup in Azerbaijan, meaning that Robinson essentially pulled out of the team.
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Bonus: A WashingtonPost.com blog post on Midge Purce, from August 2nd.
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