Trainor Selected To U.S. U-19 National Team
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April 18, 2002
Charlottesville, Va. – Jess Trainor, coming off her first year as a central midfielder with the UVa women’s soccer team, has been named to the U.S. National Under-19 team. Trainor joins the National team as a defender.
There are several camps and tryouts held over the year as part of the process, all leading to this point, where 18 players are selected from a final pool of 30 players to be on the U-19 team. The team is coached by Tracey Leone.
“Anytime you represent your country, that to me is the greatest honor a person could achieve,” head coach Steve Swanson said. ” A year ago, Jess wasn’t even in the national picture. She wasn’t invited to camps because she missed a lot of playing time her junior year due to an ACL injury. She’ll represent the team well, she’ll represent UVa well and most importantly she’ll represent her country well.”
Trainor scored one goal and three assists in her first year with the Cavaliers, while starting in 22 of 23 games. She scored her first goal in an NCAA quarterfinal loss at Santa Clara. A durable central midfielder for the Cavaliers, only Lori Lindsey and Kelly Worden played more minutes than Trainor did in 2001. She will play in the back for the U-19’s, where she is well-suited for creating attacks. She was also named to the ACC All-Freshman team.
Leone looked at 54 players in game action over the past 16 months in preparation for the tournament. Should the U.S. qualify, she will have another three months to evaluate her team before picking a final roster for the 12-team world championship tournament to be held in Edmonton, Vancouver and Victoria, Canada. The U-19s have never lost an international match in their two-year history, compiling an 8-0-1 mark.
The 18 members selected for the final U-19 team will go on to Trinidad & Tabago for qualifying matches, leading up to the 12-team world championship. Qualifying matches begin next month, as the U.S. takes on Suriname on May 7, Haiti on May 9 and Costa Rica on May 11.
-UVa-