Pellerud Selects Roster for First Camp of ‘06

Ottawa, Ontario – Canada’s Women’s National Team Head Coach, Even Pellerud, has released the names of the 16 women that will attend the team’s first training camp of the New Year. The camp will run from January 10-17 in Vancouver, BC.



“The upcoming camp in Vancouver kicks off a very big season for the Women’s team; a season that will conclude in November with the CONCACAF Women’s World Cup Qualifying tournament,” said Head Coach Even Pellerud from the U20 training camp in Sunrise, FL.



“There’s an interesting change in the balance of this roster. Earlier, we had to rely on a lot of our younger players based in NCAA schools, but now we see a large portion of that group graduating and the result is a far more ‘adult’ group of athletes.



“Some of our younger athletes have been omitted from this camp simply because of the conflict with the upcoming U20 qualifying tournament.”



However, the majority of the squad for the weeklong camp has been ever-present in Pellerud’s selections of late but the latest list of players does include a handful of women that have been absent from the last few camps and International friendlies.



The most notable being University of Portland ‘super-striker’, Christine Sinclair.



Sinclair, who has been busy in 2005 re-writing the NCAA record-books and looks to be a sure winner of the 2005 Missouri Athletic Club’s Hermann Trophy (awarded to the top female and male Division 1 College soccer players), will be training with her Canadian teammates for the first time since June 2005.



Sinclair was named ‘Soccer America Women’s Player of the Year’ in late December and was also on the shortlist for FIFA World Player of the Year in 2005.



Another NCAA star that has been absent from Pellerud’s squad since June 2005 is Notre Dame’s Katie Thorlakson.



The diminutive striker and 2004 Soccer America Player of the Year, also had her fair share of highlights in 2005, having led the nation with 35 assists (2nd in NCAA history) and finishing second to Sinclair in total points in 2005 with 71 (Sinclair finished with 88 points).



Thorlakson’s Notre Dame reached the quarterfinals in 2005, only to fall to Sinclair’s Pilots 3-1.



Fellow All-American, Erin McLeod (Penn State), has also been absent for sometime and has been included for the first time since July 2004.



In 2005, McLeod also had the unfortunate pleasure of running into the Pilots during their College Cup run.



McLeod certainly did her part by holding the Pilots and Sinclair scoreless for 110 minutes in the semi-final match, but when it came to the decisive penalty and Sinclair stepped up to take it, the result must have seemed automatic.



Also making a long-awaited return will be defender Sharolta Nonen.



The experienced veteran of two World Cups has not been involved since the agonizing 2-1 loss to Mexico in Olympic Qualifying that eliminated the Canadians in 2003 and will certainly be looking to re-establish herself in early 2006 as a mainstay in Pellerud’s defense.



Pellerud added that the camp would serve “multiple goals” over the seven day period.



“I hope to use the seven days to assess individual performances as we head towards some of the friendlies we are close to finalizing in February and March. It also allows us to further enhance and enforce our playing style as well as the fitness of our players.



“Off the field, it gives us a chance to address the mental aspects of the game through some of the professionals we have added to the staff and get a clearer picture of how we look to approach the next few months.



“The upcoming ‘season’ will be filled with challenges and will require a large commitment from all involved – this camp is the first stage in addressing those challenges.”



Roster