The Freedom's Road to the International Cup

This weekend, February 21-23, the women of the United States Australian Football League (USAFL) will descend upon Houston, Texas for the 2014 USA Freedom Training Camp. More than 60 players and staff will be attending the event, which will be held at the Cullen Park Soccer Fields on the outskirts of Houston.

The camp is open to any women currently registered with the USAFL and players will be put through their paces over the weekend with fitness sessions, training drills, skills sessions and individualized coaching. In addition throughout the weekend there will be break out sessions lead by the coaching staff and team leadership group.

The squad hopes to lay the foundation for a strong team culture going forward to this year’s AFL International Cup (AFLIC), which will be played in Melbourne, Australia from August 9-23.

“The main focus for the team at this year’s AFLIC will be to achieve the very best outcome on the field”, said Head Coach Leigh Barnes, “however additionally we will be touring with our larger “Freeberty” squad which will give players who miss out on a place with the Freedom the chance to play as the USA Liberty against local metropolitan and regional Victorian women’s teams to gain valuable experience and game time while still representing their country,”  he explained.

The Freedom would like to extend a big thank-you to the Houston Lonestars who have played an integral part of the organization for this camp. “I want to thank the Houston Lonestars for their tremendous help in all aspects of planning for this camp from hotel recommendations, to field bookings and providing umpires for the Freedom vs. Liberty games at the camp. Their assistance has made the planning and execution of the camp much easier,” said Team Manager Jess Whisney.

The coaching staff will name the players selected for the two squads by March 1.