VANCOUVER (Friday, January 18, 2002) - The Vancouver Breakers are being well represented at the first Canadian National Women's Team's training camp of 2002, as Breakers Head Coach Dave Dew of Victoria and four of his players kick off a week of intense training today in Ottawa.
Dew, who is serving as assistant coach to National Team Head Coach Even Pellerud for this camp, is joined by Breakers players: forward Christine Sinclair of Burnaby, midfielder and Breakers captain Andrea Neil of Vancouver, defender Randee Hermus of Langley, and forward Amber Allen of Port Coquitlam, who is listed as one of two "guest players" at the camp. Dew is the Head Coach of Canada's U-16 Women's Team.
While Sinclair, Neil, and Hermus are all international veterans, with well over 100 caps between them, this is Allen's first National Team camp. Allen is coming off a highly successful varsity season at McGill, where she scored 23 goals in 10 games to capture the Canadian Interuniversity Sport national scoring title for the second year in a row! McGill were silver medallists, losing to Alberta in the final, with Allen named 2nd Team All-Canadian and a Tournament All-Star With the Breakers last year, she rose to dramatic prominence, scoring five goals in two games before a hamstring injury on July 1 put her out for the balance of the season.
The National Team camp will help serve as preparation for the Algarve Cup in Portugal, February 25 to March 9, in which Canada will be competing for the third consecutive year. In total, 18 national team players, plus two guest players, are involved in this camp. Other BC-based players among the 20 are: goalkeeper Karina LeBlanc of Maple Ridge, defender Sharolta Nonen of Vancouver, and forward Silvana Burtini of Williams Lake.
The camp is being run in conjunction with a similar camp of eastern-based players of Canada's U-19 Women's Team, coached by Victoria's Ian Bridge. A second U-19 camp for western-based players will begin January 25 in Vancouver. These will help prepare the squad for the first ever FIFA U-19 Women's World Championship to be hosted by Canada, August 17 to September 1, with games to be played in Vancouver, Victoria, and Edmonton.
Breakers Players at National Team Camp
-Breakers 2001-
Pos Name Hometown Age Caps GP G A Pts
M Andrea Neil Vancouver, BC 30 59 11 5 3 13
F Christine Sinclair Burnaby, BC 18 30 6 2 4 8
D Randee Hermus Langley, BC 22 20 7 2 0 4
F Amber Allen Port Coquitlam, BC 26 0 8 6 0 12
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Alan Douglas, Soccer Information
Vancouver Whitecaps and Breakers Soccer Clubs
