OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. --- The Amateur Softball Association recently invited 35 athletes to participate at the September 6-10 National team selection camp at the U.S. Olympic training center in Chula Vista, Calif. The Women’s National Team Selection Committee will evaluate the athletes for three days before selecting the 17-member Pan American Qualifier team.
The chosen team will compete November 26-December 5 in Guatemala City, Guatemala, at the qualifier tournament for the 2006 World Championships in Beijing, China, and the 2007 Pan American Games in Rio de Janeiro. An official roster announcement will be made on Monday, September 12, identifying the selected athletes. Following this camp, the Women’s Selection Committee will also announce the 2006 National Training team (22 members) that will train together during selected weeks from January-May of 2006.
Mike Candrea will lead the Red, White and Blue in Guatemala assisted by Ken Eriksen, John Rittman and Teresa Wilson.
Recently named to the USA Coaching Pool, the following coaches will lead the September selection camp program:
Suzy Brazney (Buena Park, Calif., head coach at Golden West College)
Chuck D’Arcy (Sacramento, Calif., ASA Hall of Famer, Founder and former manager of Sacramento Rush Girls Softball Team)
Gordon Eakin (Sandy, Utah, head coach at Brigham Young University)
Stacy Iveson (Tucson, Ariz., head coach at Pima Community College)
Barbara Jordan (Northridge, Calif., head coach at Cal State Northridge)
Cheri Kempf (Antioch, Tenn., Owner/Instructor, Club K Fast Pitch Softball Training Facility)
Mike Larabee (Bellbrook, Ohio, head coach at Wright State University)
Mark Lumley (Waco, Texas, Asst. Coach at Baylor University)
The following is a complete breakdown of the selection camp participants by state with their college listed in parenthesis (* are players that have college eligibility):
ARIZONA
Caitlin Benyi (Scottsdale, Ariz., UCLA)*
Selena Collins (Glendale, Ariz., Texas A&M)
Tairia Flowers (Tucson, Ariz., UCLA)
CALIFORNIA
Monica Abbott (Salinas, Calif., Tennessee)*
Lauren Bauer (Santa, Calif., Arizona)
Laura Berg (Santa Fe Springs, Calif., Fresno State)
Crystl Bustos (Canyon Country, Calif., West Palm Beach C.C.)
Jaime Clark (Tustin, Calif., Washington)
Jodie Cox (Lancaster, Calif., Cal State Fullerton)
Andrea Duran (Selma, Calif., UCLA)*
Jennie Finch (La Mirada, Calif., Arizona)
Amanda Freed (Cypress, Calif., UCLA)
Vicky Galindo (Union City, Calif., California-Berkeley)
Nicole Giordano (Saugus, Calif., Arizona)
Alicia Hollowell (Suisun, Calif., Arizona)*
Lovie Jung (Fountain Valley, Calif., Arizona)
Lauren Lappin (Anaheim, Calif., Stanford)*
Caitlin Lowe (Tustin, Calif., Arizona)*
Toni Mascarenas (Garden Grove, Calif., Arizona)
Jessica Mendoza (Camarillo, Calif., Stanford)
Marissa Nichols (Diamond Bar, Calif., UNLV)*
Stacey Nuveman (La Verne, Calif., UCLA)
Heather Scaglione (San Diego, Calif., Oklahoma)
Lindsay Schutzler (Monterey, Calif., Tennessee)*
Dana Sorensen (San Diego, Calif., Stanford)
Jamie Southern (Clovis, Calif., Fresno State)
Nichole Thompson (Mission Viejo, Calif., Arizona State)
Jenny Topping (Whittier, Calif., Cal State Fullerton)
Mackenzie Vandergeest (Thousand Oaks, Calif., Arizona)
Natasha Watley (Irvine, Calif., UCLA)
FLORIDA
Kelly Kretschman (Indian Harbour Beach, Fla., Alabama)
Kellie Wilkerson (Jacksonville, Fla., Mississippi State)
ILLINOIS
Samantha Findlay (Lockport, Ill., Michigan)*
MICHIGAN
Jessica Merchant (Wayland, Mich., Michigan)
Jennie Ritter (Dexter, Mich., Michigan)*
