Locals Hoover, Marks, Sessa chosen to USA field hockey teams
Southeast Pennsylvania’s supply line to USA Field Hockey remains as strong as ever.
That was clear on Jan. 28 when USA Field Hockey released the rosters for its National Development Squad, U-21, U-19 and U-17 teams.
The U.S. Women’s Development team includes a pair of Pioneer Athletic Conference graduates in Alexa Hoover (Collegeville/Methacton) and Kelly (Bonner) Marks (Elverson/Owen J. Roberts), both former Mercury AllArea Field Hockey Players of the Year. Hoover went on to a recently-completed standout career at Penn, where she becomes the school’s all-time leader in goals and points, while Marks excelled at the University of Albany. Marks has maintained a high level of play since graduating from Albany in 2014. The wife and mother of two children was the head coach at New Canaan High School (Conn.) last fall.
The U.S. Women’s National Development will have one training camp in February and two in March as they prepare for their international tour to the Netherlands from April 13-22. There they will compete against the Scotland Women’s National Team and Belgium’s U-21 team.
The United States Women’s Senior National Team is presently gearing up to compete in the inaugural FIH Pro League from February to June around the globe with USA games taking place Argentina, Australia, Brussels, the Netherlands, Great Britain and home games in Lancaster, Pa. The senior national team includes former Upper Perkiomen and UConn standout Casey Umstead, who got her third international cap last week in Chile.
On the U-17 team, Spring-Ford freshman Ashley Sessa was selected. Earlier this month, Sessa, 14, competed with the U.S. senior indoor national team in Croatia, where it won the tournament championship of the Croatia Cup. The U-17 team also features Sarah Beers (Fleetwood/ Oley Valley), Emily Bullard (Doylestown/Central Bucks East) and Kelly Smith (Downingtown/ Episcopal Academy).
The U-19 teams includes Isabella Bressler (Leesport, Berks Catholic), Charlotte de Vries (Wayne/ Conestoga), Lindsay Dickinson (Glen Mills/Villa Maria), Riley Donnelly (Doylestown/CB East), Peyton Halsey (Reading/Exeter), Mary Harkins (Kimberton/Villa Maria), Adele Iacobucci (Malvern/Villa Maria), Hannah Miller (Malvern/Villa Maria), Sammy Popper (Blue Bell/ Germantown Academy) and Grace Wallis (Blue Bell/Mount St. Joseph)
The U-17 and U-19 teams were chosen following a three-day selection camp held January 23-25 at Spooky Nook Sports in Lancaster, Pa. The initial selection of athletes to participate in the selection camp were chosen from 2018 Junior National Camp which followed the 2018 Citi National Futures Championship, presented by Harrow Sports. Both named squads will take part in three additional training camps over the next several weeks to prepare for their respective Germany tours. From April 14-22, the U-17 USWNT will head to Cologne to play Germany’s U-16 Team and Belgium’s U-16 Team. The U-19 USWNT will travel to Dusseldorf to take on Germany’s U-18 Team and Belgium’s U-18 Team. Additionally, for the first time, the U-19 USWNT will take part in the Young Women’s National Championships from June 14-18, 2019.
Athletes for the U-21 USWNT were selected from the 2018 Young Women’s National Championship in June for further evaluation at last summer’s Junior National Camp and at the December and January training camps. Those named to the U.S. Women’s National Development Squad were selected through the 2018 Young Women’s National Championship route or as a result of their performances at the USWNT Trial last week, where athletes were recommended by their college coach, competed for a rostered spot within the Olympic Development Pipeline. The team includes Madeleine Bacskai (Episcopal Academy), Mary Kate Neff (Academy of Notre Dame), Julianna Tornetta (Agnes Irwin) and Corinne Zanolli (Episcopal Academy)
The U.S. U-21 Women’s National Team will meet three times in the next two months for training camps in preparation for their international tour to Germany from April 14-22. In Monchengladbach, the U-21 USWNT will take on Germany’s U-21 Team and Great Britain’s U-21 Team.