OKLAHOMA CITY — Fans in the United States will have the opportunity to catch the 2019 USA Softball U-19 Women’s National Team (WNT) in action in five major cities as the U.S. leg of the 2019 schedule has been announced. Highlighted by the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) U-19 Women’s Softball World Cup and the USA Softball International Cup, the Red, White and Blue open the season in Houston, Texas for training camp and a youth clinic.  Click here to see the U.S. stops on for the 2019 USA Softball U-19 Women’s National Team  “The U.S. leg of our U19 schedule is very intense and exciting,†said Head Coach, Heather Tarr (Redmond, Wash.). “These stops allow our team the opportunity to compete against the best teams in the world in front of the best fans in the world. We are excited to bring the team together in Houston mid-June for training and a youth clinic. At the International Cup in Columbus, Georgia, we’ll play our Women’s National Team and several other women’s teams. This competition will test our limits and prepare us for the ultimate goal, to win the last game played in Irvine, California at the U19 WBSC World Cup."  As the U-19 WNT prepares to defend and strive for a three-peat at the WBSC U-19 Women’s Softball World Cup in Irvine, Calif., a mixture of exhibition games, training and competitions against prominent youth fast pitch softball club teams and international federations will prep the 2019 training team roster.  Members of the training team will meet at the Scrap Yard Sports Complex in Houston, Texas June 10-16 to officially kick off their 2019 season. The weeklong training camp also includes exhibition games against Impact GOLD, Scrap Yard Internationals, East Cobb Bullets, Texas Bombers and Mizuno Impulse.  The U-19 WNT will also be conducting a one-day softball clinic on June 13. With three separate sessions, there will be a pitchers only session while sessions for athletes ages 8-11 and 12-16 are also open for registration. The pitchers only session is limited to the first 50 athletes, while each age-specific session will be capped at 200 participants. Athletes interested in attending a clinic session can register here.   The athletes will resume their U.S. prep in Atlanta, Ga. for a pair of exhibition games against the Georgia Impact and Birmingham Thunderbolts on June 30 before participating in the USA Softball International Cup, which will be held July 1-7 in Columbus, Ga. The team will continue on to Spartanburg, S.C. in conjunction with the USA Softball Junior Olympic (JO) Cup where the team is slated for exhibition games July 21-22 against the reigning USA Softball 18-Under GOLD National Champion Rock Gold – Waye and the St. Louis Chaos, the 2018 18-Under USA Softball JO Cup Champion.  Each of these stops lead up to the WBSC U-19 Women’s World Softball Cup, set to take place August 11-17 at Bill Barber Park in Irvine, Calif.  Announced earlier this year was the coaching staff for the 2019 team, including Head Coach Heather Tarr, in addition to Assistant Coaches Tony Baldwin (Athens, Ga./Associate Head Coach at Georgia), Cindy Ball-Malone (Orlando, Fla./Head Coach at UCF) and Tim Walton (Gainesville, Fla./Head Coach at Florida).  Additional events for the U-19 WNT will be announced at a later date.  Fans at home can follow along all summer long with the USA Softball National Teams at USASoftball.com.  About USA Softball USA Softball is a 501(c)(3) not-for profit organization headquartered in Oklahoma City, Okla., and is designated as the National Governing Body (NGB) of Softball in the United States and a member of the United States Olympic Committee. One of the nation’s largest sports organizations, USA Softball sanctions competition through a network of Local Associations, which includes all 50 states and select metro associations. USA Softball is dedicated to providing people of all ages the opportunity to play the game they love at a variety of levels by offering recreational, league, tournament and competitive play for fast pitch, slow pitch and modified pitch. USA Softball annually conducts thousands of tournaments throughout the country including over 100 National Championships. The USA Softball umpire program is among the nation’s largest and are widely known as the best trained umpires in the game.  As the NGB for the sport of softball, USA Softball is responsible for training, equipping and promoting the six USA Softball National Teams that compete in events such as the Olympics, Pan American Games, World Championships and other international and domestic events. For more information on USA Softball, including its founding and history as the Amateur Softball Association of America (ASA), please visit, www.USASoftball.com.  |
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