The U.S. Under-20 Women’s National Team returned to The Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif., on Sunday (June 11) to begin a training camp that runs until June 17. It is the first camp since U.S. head coach Tim Schulz finalized the 21-player roster that will represent the USA at the 2006 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Championship being held from Aug. 17-Sept. 3 in Russia.

Sixteen of the 21 players on the World Championship roster are at the camp, with the exception of goalkeeper Val Henderson, who is with the U.S. U-21 Women’s National Team this week for a training camp in Maryland, and defender Stephanie Lopez, forward Amy Rodriguez and forward Lauren Cheney, who are currently in Residency Training Camp at the HDC with the full Women’s National Team.

Lopez, A-Rod and Cheney will only join the U-20s for selected games during this camp. Midfielder Allie Long is nursing a slight foot injury and will skip this camp. This camp will feature at least four matches, including a game against the full U.S. Women’s National Team on June 14 at 4 p.m.

Four players have notched double figure goal totals so far this year in the run-up to the World Championship. Forward Jessica Rostedt leads the team with 21 goals in all games while Cheney has 16, midfielder/forward Danesha Adams has 14 and midfielder Tina DiMartino has 10. Rodriguez, who has only played in 13 games this year due to commitments to her college and the full Women’s National Team, has scored eight times.

The U.S. U-20s have four graduating high school seniors in Cheney, forward Kelley O’Hara and midfielders Tobin Heath and Casey Nogueira (who actually graduated from high school a year early). The U-20s will open the 2006 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Championship against the DR Congo on Aug. 18, face Argentina on Aug. 21 and finish group play against France on Aug. 24. All the first-round matches will be played in Moscow.

U.S. U-20 Women’s National Team – Training Camp Roster – June 11-17
GOALKEEPERS (2): Kelsey Davis (Thousand Oakes, Calif.), Joanna Haig (Inver Grove Heights, Minn.);
DEFENDERS (6): Jordan Angeli (Lakewood, Colo.), Carrie Dew (Encinitas, Calif.), Erin Hardy (Costa Mesa, Calif.), Nikki Kryzsik (Clifton, N.J.), Stephanie Logterman (Austin, Texas), Sara Wagenfuhr (Colorado Springs, Colo.);
MIDFIELDERS (5): Brittany Bock (Naperville, Ill), Tina DiMartino (Massapequa Park, N.Y.), Tobin Heath (Basking Ridge, N.J.), Casey Noguiera (Raleigh, N.C.), Amanda Poach (Bowie, Md.);
FORWARDS (3): Danesha Adams (Shaker Heights, Ohio), Kelley O’Hara (Fayetteville, Ga.), Jessica Rostedt (Kent, Ohio).