Joanna Verzosa-Dolezal

Canada Soccer have announced their squad for the Women’s National U-20 Excel camp in Burnaby, British Columbia from 13-18 December. The five-day camp will continue Canada’s preparations for the Concacaf Women’s Under-20 Championship in early 2020.

Seventeen of the 20 players in the camp have participated at either a FIFA or Concacaf youth tournament over the past five years. Every player in the camp also has experience coming through the Women’s National Excel Program, several since as early as 2014, as well as Excel Centres across Canada.

The 2020 Concacaf Women’s Under-20 Championship will take place from 22 February-2 March in Dominican Republic. From the competition, the top-three teams will qualify for the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup in 2020.

Most recently, Canada’s U-20 team held a 13-day camp in England this past summer featuring a pair of Canada victories against Northern Ireland and England.

The U-20 camp follows an eight-day Women’s Excel U-17 camp in November in Mexico. Both the Women’s U-20 and U-17 National Teams are coached by Women’s Youth National Team Head Coach, Rhian Wilkinson.

CANADA SOCCER’S WOMEN’S EXCEL PROGRAM
Canada Soccer’s Women’s Excel Program brings together the best with the best at the national youth level from the U-14 to U-20 age groups. The program delivers an aligned talent structure that produces more gold-medal standard players that progress to the Women’s National Team. Across Concacaf, FIFA, and other youth competitions, players develop the Women’s Excel Program Playing Model and benefit from invaluable tournament expertise.

Additionally, Canada Soccer’s most talented U-14 to U-18 players are offered a specialised daily training environment through the Women’s Excel Centres. The program delivers Canada Soccer’s national curriculum through a two-tiered talent system, with three Excel Super Centres in British Columbia, Ontario, and Québec supported by smaller Regional Excel Centres positioned across the country.

FIFA TOURNAMENTS & CONCACAF CHAMPIONSHIPS
The FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup is held every two years, with the next edition in 2020. For the next edition, only players born 2000 or later are eligible to participate. The Concacaf Women’s Under-20 Championship serves as Canada’s qualification route for the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup.

Canada Soccer’s Women’s National Youth Teams have won four Concacaf titles: the 2004 and 2008 Concacaf Women’s Under-20 Championship, the 2010 Concacaf Women’s Under-17 Championship, and the 2014 Concacaf Girls’ Under-15 Championship. Canada have qualified for seven editions of the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup (including a silver medal at Canada 2002) and all six editions of the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup (including a fourth-place finish at Uruguay 2018).

Canada are two-time Olympic bronze medal winners (2012 and 2016) and two-time Concacaf champions (1998 and 2010). In all, Canada have participated in seven consecutive editions of the FIFA Women’s World Cup (1995 to 2015) and three consecutive editions of the Women’s Olympic Football Tournament (2008 to 2016). At Rio 2016, Canada Soccer’s Women’s National Team were the first Canadian Olympic team to win back-to-back medals at a summer Olympic Games in more than a century.

CANADA
GK- Anna Karpenko | CAN / Super REX Ontario
GK- Kayza Massey | USA / West Virginia University
CB- Maya Antoine | CAN / Vaughan SC
CB- Samantha Chang | USA / University of South Carolina
CB- Jade Rose | CAN / Super REX Ontario
CB- Joanna Verzosa-Dolezal | CAN / Vancouver Whitecaps FC Girls Elite
CB- Sonia Walk | CAN / Super REX Ontario
FB- Emma Regan | USA / University of Texas
FB- Élisabeth Tsé | CAN / CS Phénix des Rivières de Québec
M- Marika Guay | USA / Santa Clara University
M- Mya Jones | USA / University of Memphis
M- Lara Kazandjian | USA / University of Memphis
M- Maya Ladhani | CAN / Super REX Ontario
M- Penny Mulenga | USA / Texas Tech University
M- Caitlin Shaw | USA / University of Oregon
F- Caleigh Boeckx | USA / Rice University
F- Tanya Boychuk | USA / University of Memphis
F- Jessica De Filippo | USA / University of Louisville
F- Kaila Novak | USA / UCLA
F- Andersen Williams | USA / Texas A&M