Canada Soccer have announced their squad for the Women’s National U-20 Excel camp in Burnaby, British Columbia from 11-16 August. The six-day camp will continue Canada’s preparations for the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup in 2020.
This will mark the first national camp with Rhian Wilkinson officially in charge as Canada Soccer’s Women’s National U-20 and U-17 Team Head Coach. Wilkinson was recently appointed to the position coming through Canada Soccer’s Elite Player-Elite Coach program. She has worked with several Canadian teams through the Women’s Excel Program since 2014, includes roles as an Assistant Coach at the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup Canada 2014 and FIFA Women’s World Cup France 2019™ as well as Head Coach of Canada’s fourth-place finish at the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup Uruguay 2018.
The Canada camp features players from schools and clubs in Canada and the United States, notably before the start of the 2019-20 NCAA campaign. 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 the Regional Excel Program Centres across Canada. Sixteen of the 20 players in this camp have participated at either a FIFA or Concacaf youth tournament over the past five years.
With the start of the new 2019-2020 cycle to the next FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup, there are nine players in this camp that have just graduated into this age group from last year’s fourth-place finish at the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup Uruguay 2018. Only players born 2000 or later are eligible for next year’s FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup.
Just last month, Canada’s U-20 team held a 13-day camp in England featuring a pair of Canada victories against Northern Ireland and England.
