Tryout sessions scheduled for selection to Guam U20 Women’s Team

[October 28, 2022 – Harmon, Guam] Guam Women’s National Program coaches will be looking for the best eligible players for selection to the Guam U20 Women’s National Team during a two-part trial session next month at the Guam Football Association National Training Center.

“The purpose of the trials is to identify players who are eligible to play for Guam and who are committed and driven to compete for a roster position for the upcoming AFC U20 Women’s Asian Cup Uzbekistan 2024 Qualifiers Round 1 in March next year,” said Derrick Cruz, Head Coach of the Guam U20 Women’s National Team.

Trial dates are on Saturdays, Nov. 5 and Nov. 12 beginning at 6 p.m. at GFA. Participants will be required to register online by Oct. 31 at https://form.jotform.com/222911641990861

On trial days, athletes must wear a blue or dark blue sports top, black shorts, and long black socks and bring shin guards and hydration beverages.

The eligible birth years for the U20 Women’s group is 2004-2007. Players must also meet FIFA Eligibility, as well as hold a U.S. passport, to be considered for selection to the traveling roster.

Guam’s opponents, as well as the venue for the qualification group, will be revealed at 2 p.m. Malaysia time (4 p.m. Guam time) on Nov. 3 during a virtual draw live streamed from the AFC House in Kuala Lumpur. The live stream link provided by AFC is https://youtu.be/ix_EJ3h9gGg

Unlike the single qualification round held for both the AFC U20 Asian Cup and AFC U17 Asian Cup held earlier this year for Guam’s boys teams, the youth divisions of the AFC Women’s Asian Cup tournament are composed to two levels of qualification. The first round of qualification for the AFC U20 Women’s Asian Cup will be held between Mar. 4-12, 2023 and the second round of qualification will be held between Jun. 3-11, 2023. The final round of the tournament will be held between Mar. 3-16, 2024.

The top three teams from the previous tournament last held in 2019 – Japan, DPR Korea, and Korea Republic, will not play in the qualification rounds and instead received a direct entry to the final round of the tournament. Additionally, Uzbekistan, host of the final round of the tournament, will receive an automatic qualification to the tournament’s final round.

Although Uzbekistan will compete in the qualification rounds, the team’s matches will be considered friendly matches and results from matches against Uzbekistan will not count toward determining final group rankings for qualification to higher-level rounds, according to correspondence from AFC.

During the tournament’s draw on Nov. 3, Guam will be part of Pot 3 as the team was ranked No. 23 out of 34 participating teams.

For more information about the Guam U20 Women’s National Team trials, contact Head Coach Derrick Cruz via E-mail at [email protected]