Portuguese Women's National Team Tryouts in July
Open tryouts for Women’s U17, U20 and World Cup teams in New Jersey
USL News Release
Thursday, June 2, 2005
TAMPA, FL – United Soccer Leagues announced today that in the continuation of the Elite Luso-American Select (ELAS) program for Portuguese Americans and Canadians, an open tryout for the Portugal Women’s National Team program has been established for July 8-10 in New Jersey.
Portuguese Women’s National Team head coach Jose Augusto will be on hand evaluating American and Canadian players of Portuguese descent for the U17, U20 and World Cup Women’s National Teams. Augusto will be accompanied by USL President Francisco Marcos, who founded the concept and project, David Caetano, a Portuguese-American who will serve as a technical coordinator. The event is being hosted by the Ironbound Strikers of the Super Y-League through its Director Albert Coutinho, who will manage the overall tryout event at NJ Tech in Newark.
The open tryouts are open to players of Portuguese heritage ranging from the U17 group and above with the participants being analyzed and evaluated in training sessions and an exhibition match.
FIFA rules allow players under the age of 23 who qualify for national team eligibility in multiple federations to play with those federations at the youth level without locking them to any specific federation until they have played with one federation's senior national team. Qualification is determined utilizing the heritage of the player, their parents and grandparents.
The project began in March of 2004 and has been a tremendous success with a Select Team participating in the equivalent of an ODP identification tournament the following month in Portugal with a 4-0-0 record, turning many heads.
The efforts also saw 16-year old Carolina Dynamo midfielder Julia Demetrius play for the Portuguese U19 Women’s National Team in the UEFA European U19 Women’s Championship against Finland, Serbia-Montenegro and Slovakia, coming off the bench in the first two matches and starting the third just days after joining the team.
This time, head coach Augusto, the former Portugal and Benfica all-time great, will be looking for players eligible for selection for the next Women’s World Cup qualifying process as well as players for the U20 and U17 teams.
“I strongly believe programs like this are a key element to the growth of the women’s game,” said USL founder and President Francisco Marcos, a native of Portugal. “With fewer opportunities for the female soccer player in North America at the professional and international level, it is important to help push open the doors for these players to other options like Julia Demetrius experienced this past year. This will make the quality of players here and abroad better, which is vital for the women’s game and we hope to expand this program beyond just Portugal.”
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