International News: Teams From 10 Countries Battling Over Next Week-Plus at the 2023 U-15 Pan American Championship

This week, the first-ever U-15 U.S. Women’s National Team (WNT) will compete in Lima, Peru, at the 2023 U-15 Pan American Women’s Championship along with nine other teams from the Americas.

As reported Thursday by USA Softball, Team USA will compete in Group A alongside Brazil, Colombia, Guatemala (Team WBSC) and Peru, while Argentina, Ecuador, Mexico, Puerto Rico and Venezuela will battle it out in Group B.

The American team arrived two days prior to the start of the event and looks to claim a qualifying spot in the World Baseball Softball Classic (WBSC) World Championship held in Tokyo, Japan later this year.

*** Click here to view the schedule, roster, stats, live streaming and more 

Team USA prepped on Friday by holding a series of practices and a scrimmage against Puerto Rico.

The U.S. will begin its quest to the Gold on Sunday, April 2 with a matchup against host country Peru at 4:30 p.m. CT before facing off with Colombia on Monday, April 3 at 2 p.m. CT.

Continuing the competition, Team USA will take on Guatemala (April 4 at 9 a.m. CT) and Brazil (April 5 at 2 p.m. CT) to close out pool play followed by the Playoff and Medal Rounds held April 6-8.

Here’s the schedule of the U-15 U.S. Women’s National Team Pool Play games:

Previously announced by USA Softball, the 16-player roster is a result of the USA Softball High Performance Program (HPP) – also known as the pipeline to the WNT.

Working their way through the selection process, the U-15 roster represents five different regions across the U.S. with Region 10 (Arizona, California) highlighted by seven players, along with five players from Region 5 (Texas), two from Region 3 (Florida, South Carolina) and one athlete apiece from Region 2 (Virginia) and Region 7 (Kansas).

Leading the U.S. is head coach Kyla Holas who previously helped the 2021 U-18 JWNT to Gold Medal finishes at the 2021 Junior Pan American Games and 2021 WBSC Junior Women’s World Cup in addition to guiding the 2019 U-17 JWNT to gold at the 2019 U-17 Women’s Pan American Championship.

Joining Holas in Peru are assistant coaches Iyhia McMichael (head coach at Frisco Emerson HS) and Scott Smith (head coach of Texas Bombers) who each join the JWNT coaching staff for the first time in their careers.

Fans can join in on the excitement as the championship unfolds with free live streaming and stats available on USASoftball.com. 

Also, live streaming will be provided through the WBSC Americas Softball YouTube Channel and live stats of the U-15 Women’s National Team can be followed on Gamechanger.