Jan. 24, 2017
TEAM USA Release
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - In Nov. 2016, USA Field Hockey along with U.S. Women's National Team Head Coach, Janneke Schopman, announced the introduction of the U.S. Women's National Developmental Squad. To account for the transitional phase from the U.S. U-21 Women's National Team to the senior USWNT, the squad's purpose is to nurture the talent of college students who no longer are permitted to be on the U-21 USWNT due to age restrictions but show great promise in hockey
Following the 2017 U.S. Women's National Team Trial, which was held Jan. 15-17, Schopman and announced 16-athletes to the Developmental Squad including Penn State's Carly Celkos.
"The Developmental Squad or Shadow National Team, as I'd like to call it, completes the pipeline for all athletes in college and therefore will make transition to the National Team easier," said Schopman. "At the same time it provides an opportunity for players who just fall short of the senior national team to keep playing and practicing, giving them extra time to get ready for the national team. It is something that is needed as we don't have a good system in place to play after college."
Carly Celkos, a team captain in 2016 was an integral part of the 17-3 season that Penn State had this past fall as they made their return to the NCAA tournament after missing the field in 2015.
Celkos started every game in 2016 for the Nittany Lions finishing the season with one goal, three assists and a defensive save.
The Developmental Squad will be attending several training camps throughout the year between March and May, where they will train and scrimmage against the U.S. U-21 Women's National Team and college teams.
In June, they will compete as a team at the Young Women's National Championship held at the Spooky Nook Sports in Lancaster County, Pa.
Click here to view the 2017 U.S. Women's National Team Olympic Developmental Pipeline to better understand the implementation of the U.S. Women's National Developmental Squad.
For more updates on the U.S. Women's National Developmental Squad, visit usafieldhockey.com.
Information from USA Field Hockey was used in this release.