Olympic News: Team USA Taking the Field Today for Training Camp in Lakeland, Florida

USA Softball announced today that members of the 2020-21 USA Softball Women’s National Team (WNT) have landed in Lakeland, Fla. for training camp, reuniting for the first time since March, 2020 (10 months) when the “Stand Beside Her” tour, presented by Major League Baseball (MLB), was canceled as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Click HERE to read about the Stand Beside Her Tour from 2020

The team will take part in a series of workouts, practice sessions, and simulated game situations at Barnett Athletic Complex, home of the Florida Southern College softball program from Jan. 4-16, 2021.

Training will be closed to the public to limit any potential exposure to the athletes and staff during their time together.

“I want to thank Polk County Tourism and Sports Marketing and Florida Southern College for helping us get some training in these next couple weeks,” said WNT Head Coach, Ken Eriksen. “The training is a big part of our preparation and for groups such as Polk County and Florida Southern to get behind this team and support us is a huge commitment.”

Click HERE to see the 2020-21 USA Softball WNT roster

The 18-player team will be without Rachel Garcia (UCLA), Dejah Mulipola (Arizona) and Bubba Nickles (UCLA) as well as assistant coaches Laura Berg (Oregon State), Howard Dobson (LSU), Tairia Flowers (Loyola Marymount) and Heather Tarr (Washington) who all remain with their respective collegiate teams.

Joining Head Coach Ken Eriksen to assist with training will be Roman and Penny Foore, Kyla Holas, and two-time Olympian Kelly Kretschman.

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About USA Softball

USA Softball (USAS) is a 501(c)(3) not-for profit organization headquartered in Oklahoma City, Okla., and is designated as the National Governing Body (NGB) of Softball in the United States and a member of the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee. One of the nation’s largest sports organizations, USAS sanctions competition through a network of Local Associations, which includes all 50 states and select metro associations.

USAS is dedicated to providing people of all ages the opportunity to play the game they love at a variety of levels by offering recreational, league, tournament and competitive play for fast pitch, slow pitch and modified pitch.  USAS annually conducts thousands of tournaments throughout the country including over 100 National Championships.  The USAS umpire program is among the nation’s largest and are widely known as the best trained umpires in the game.

As the NGB for the sport of softball, USAS is responsible for training, equipping and promoting the six USA Softball National Teams that compete in events such as the Olympics, Pan American Games, World Championships and other international and domestic events.

For more information on USAS, including its founding and history as the Amateur Softball Association of America (ASA), please visit, www.USASoftball.com.