A little over a year ago, the U.S. swept the Federation of International Lacrosse Women’s World Cup and the International World Games inaugural women’s lacrosse championship.

The U.S. Women’s Senior Team hasn’t played on the field since those events, but the next steps towards building towards the 2021 World Cup and beyond are becoming clearer.

U.S. team head coach Jenny Levy, named to the position last November, will get her first up-close look at potential players with a series of training camps coming up in October, November and January. They’re the first part of a three-and-a-half year plan to ready the U.S. team for the 2021 World Cup, which will be hosted by US Lacrosse at Towson University — the first time the U.S. has hosted the World Cup since 2005.

The first of the training camps camps will be the Team USA Fall Classic at US Lacrosse headquarters in Sparks, Md., the weekend of Oct. 5-7.

Levy and her staff, which includes Amy Altig (Penn State), Alex Frank (Colorado), Colleen Shearer (James Madison) and Joe Spallina (Stony Brook), have been evaluating potential players since they were named to their positions last year.

“I watched every team from both pro leagues (the United Women’s Lacrosse League and the Women’s Professional Lacrosse League) compete in person this summer. The opportunity for players to play professionally is great addition to our evaluation process and new training camp system.  As a result, we were able to better evaluate talent and style of play of individual players.” Levy said.

The staff represents five collegiate conferences and current college players were evaluated during the 2018 season, using a database to track players throughout the year. The staff has also solicited feedback from college and professional coaches.

Levy will invite 27 players for the October weekend, 18 in November and 36 in January. The invites for the October training camp, which will not include any current collegiate players, will be announced later this month.

“With the new FIL rules, and changes in protocol for USWNT program selection and development, it is our goal moving forward to bring in a consistent number of players into each training camp.”

“The training camps are for development purposes and are not hierarchal,” Levy said. “Over the next three and a half years, different players will be invited into camp for specific tactical, technical and chemistry reasons. We’re excited to grow the U.S. Women’s National Team program and begin our 2021 World Cup journey.”