OKLAHOMA CITY — USA Softball has announced the Junior Women’s National Team (JWNT) schedule for the 2017 season, highlighted by events in four major cities, including the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) Junior Women’s World Championship (JWWC) and the World Cup of Softball. As the team prepares to defend and strive for back-to-back Gold Medal finishes at the WBSC JWWC in Clearwater, Fla., a mixture of exhibition games and training in multi-cities, along with competing against some of the top international teams at the World Cup of Softball, will headline the summer for the 24 athletes who make up the training team roster.
Click here to see the complete schedule for the 2017 USA Softball Junior Women’s National Team
“I’m really excited about the schedule we have for our Junior Women’s National Team,” said Head Coach Laura Berg (Corvallis, Ore.). “They’ll have lots of time to bond together at practice, during games and traveling to our tour stops. I believe playing against the older international players at the World Cup of Softball is key to preparing them for the Junior Women’s World Championship.”
All 24 members of the training team will meet at USA Softball headquarters June 11-19 in Oklahoma City, Okla. to train at the USA Softball Hall of Fame Complex to officially kick off their 2017 season. Highlighting the Oklahoma City tour stop will be exhibition games on June 16 (5 and 7 p.m. CT), June 17(3 and 5 p.m. CT) and June 18 (9 a.m. CT). From there, Team USA will travel to Concord, Mass. to continue training on June 23
The athletes will take a brief break before returning to Oklahoma City for the World Cup of Softball, which will be held July 5-9, and face powerhouse teams from across the globe. The team will continue on and hit the road for Clearwater, Fla. where they will train during the days leading up to the WBSC JWWC, set to take place July 24-31 at Eddie C. Moore Complex.
The JWNT will conclude their season in Ohio where they will participate in an exhibition game on August 9 before the Major League Baseball (MLB) Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities (RBI) World Series on August 10 in Cincinnati, Ohio. The RBI program is the Major League Baseball youth initiative designed to provide young people from underserved and diverse communities with opportunities to play baseball and softball, while also encouraging academic achievement and success, and teaching the value of teamwork and other important life lessons.
Announced earlier this year was the coaching staff for the 2017 JWNT, including Head Coach and four-time Olympian Berg, in addition to Assistant Coaches Trisha Ford (Fremont, Calif./Head Coach at Arizona State), Kristie Fox (San Diego, Calif./Head Coach at UT-Arlington), two-time Olympian Natasha Watley (Irvine, Calif./Director of Operations at CSUN), and three-time Olympian Lori Harrigan-Mack (Las Vegas, Nev./Pitching coach at College of Southern Nevada).
Fans at home can follow along all summer long with the USA Softball National Teams at USASoftball.com.
-- Courtesy of USA Softball