When the World Cup is mentioned, one immediately thinks of Pele, soccer chants and an announcer yelling "Goal!" as loudly as he can. But there will be a different type of World Cup this summer as the International Federation of Women's Lacrosse Associations puts on its seventh women's lacrosse World Cup. The competition, the United States has won five times, will take place in Annapolis, Md. from June 23 to July 2.
The U.S. team currently has 24 players on the roster and will be cut down to the IFWLA-mandated 16 after Memorial Day weekend. The roster is laden with former Cavaliers -- five of the 24 have played for Virginia. Others on the roster with ties to Virginia are Jess Wilk, the Virginia field hockey head coach, and Heather Dow, a former Virginia player and current assistant for the Cavaliers. The plethora of Virginia connections has been a comfort for those still trying to make the team.
"It's great, I love playing with former Virginia players," Cavalier alum Cherie Greer said. "We all have similar backgrounds, same coaching experience, same institution. We've all heard each other's names but never had the chance to play with each other. Now, we're playing with the best players in the world. It's just unbelievable to play with them."
Greer, a 1994 graduate of the University, is the only Virginia player to have her jersey retired. Greer also is one of only four players still trying out who has played in three World Cups. To stay in shape for the tryouts, Greer works out on her own six days a week because there are no club teams in Florida, where she currently resides.
"I do everything from sprints to distance, weight lifting, aerobics and swimming," Greer said. "I also throw the ball against a wall, use left and right hand and run up and down the field a few times. I take it upon myself to be in the best shape I can be in."
Greer's backyard training techniques have helped her advance to the final round of an arduous and extensive tryout process. The tryout started last October, and 93 players traveled to Norfolk in an attempt to make the team. In that tryout, as well as in two subsequent tryouts held in November and January, the field was whittled down to the current roster of 24. From that group, coach Sue Stahl and her assistants will name 16 players to the active roster and eight players as alternates.
Emotions have run high among the players involved in such an intense process, even for those with previous World Cup experience.
"To be honest, if you ask any of the older players on the team, they would say they are as nervous in October as the first time they tried out," Wilk said. "You're never guaranteed anything, and you have to step out on the practice field every tryout and prove it and earn it."
As an assistant coach, Dow has experienced the process from the other point of view. After the tryouts, the coaches have the difficult task of making roster cuts. The coaching staff takes an extra day before announcing the decisions to allow for the best analysis.
"There's so much talent there that when we get down to the final 16, you're really looking at a lot of intangibles," Dow said. "Having to cut down to that final 16 is very, very difficult."
Dow mentioned that some of the traits the staff looks for in players are a team-first attitude and the ability to play effectively on both defense and offense.
One of the few players in the tryout process who doesn't seem to find it stressful is Virginia senior Amy Appelt. Appelt, Virginia's all-time leading scorer, is one of three collegiate players who have made it into the group of 24. The other collegians still with a chance to make the team are Duke's Katie Chrest and Maryland's Acacia Walker.
"This is my first tryout, so I didn't know what to expect," Appelt said. "But I knew if I went into it nervous, I wouldn't get my outcome. I can't say I was nervous -- I was more excited simply because I didn't know what to expect."
With the final tryout fast approaching, players are preparing for the final push to make the team looking to defend its championship. While the players are preparing for a grueling tryout, the coaches are preparing for a difficult decision-making process so they can send the best team possible to Annapolis.
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