With the dust settling on the women’s Junior Pan American Championship, we take a moment to reflect upon the results and what it means for the three teams who will now be contesting the Junior World Cup in Chile, later this year.
For anyone who missed the event, Argentina were outstanding; a tremendous 6-0 win over the USA secured the title, but this was just the icing on the cake after a run of performances that netted 63 goals for the Lionesses in six matches, with no goals conceded.
The bronze medal went to the up and coming Chile side, who defeated their higher ranked opponents, Canada, 3-0. There was a small consolation for Canada as their ‘keeper, Lauren Logush won Goalkeeper of the Tournament. The Player of the Tournament and Top Goal-scorer accolade was won by Argentinian sensation Maria Granatto.
For Janneke Schopman, USA U-21 Women's National Team Head Coach, the major gain for her charges was the wealth of experience they gained during the tournament. A knowledge and insight that they can now take forward to the Junior World Cup later in the year: “The Junior Pan Am tournament has been a great experience for our team, both on and off the field. Being away for two weeks, playing under different circumstances provided us with more understanding of what's important for us to play to our potential as a team.
“We reached our goal with qualifying but now want more. With the lessons of the tournament, especially the final, we know what we have to do to be ready for the first game in the Junior World Cup and bring the fight to whoever we’re playing.
“Overall I am very happy with how we were able to play, with a lot of movement and good use of the available space, scoring both field and penalty corner goals. Our goal was to qualify for the Junior World Cup and playing Argentina in the final provided us with some insights as to what the highest level in U-21 hockey looks like.
“With this experience we know what we need to do and work on in the next six months to be ready for the first game at the Junior World Cup. It will be an exciting journey I am looking forward to.”
USA forward Gab Major was Team USA’s joint top goal scorer with eight goals during the Junior Pan Am Championship. Speaking on the Team USA website, Major said: “I think our attack puts very good pressure on the opposition, which is something that we talked about before each game. Stepping together is a strength of ours and I think it even got better as the games went on. I also think our ability to move the ball around the outside gave us many attacking opportunities.”
And, like her coach, Major sees the experience as vital for the team as they set their sights on Chile in November. “Going into the tournament, we were focused on improving each game. We wanted to play to our full potential, connected as a team, and not worry about much else. Looking ahead after the first few wins, we wanted to keep the momentum going. We didn’t want to let up for any game no matter who our opponent was. Short training sessions on the field in between games helped us with that.”
While Team USA left the pitch at Tacarigua with plenty to think about, Argentina’s coach Agustin Corradini was a man who was pleased with where his players currently are in their preparations for the Junior World Cup.
“As a coaching staff, we are very pleased with the performance of our players at the Junior Pan Am Championship. It was not just about a good technical or tactical performance, it was also all about how the players behaved during the tournament. It was their ‘human performance’ if you like. I am delighted that they behaved with such a high level of professionalism. They were professional athletes throughout.”
For the players there are now two phases to the season, explains Corradini. For many of the players involved in the junior team, they now have an even bigger challenge as they will be stepping up to the senior squad and preparing for the Olympics. With squads still to be announced and a Champions Trophy to be played in London in June, these are tough times for the players.
Once the Olympics have been and gone, the U21 squad enters phase two: preparation for the Junior World Cup. In the meantime, those players not involved in the Olympics will be training hard to be at the top of their game come December.
And Corradini and his staff know the monumental task they face in Chile. While Argentina and USA had a relatively easy ride through to the finals of the Pan Am Junior Championship, it is a whole different level once you reach the World Cup.
“The teams in the World Cup are going to be much stronger than the Pan American teams (with the exception of the USA),” says Corradini. “They will be more prepared, with more support from the backroom behind their program. It is impossible to say who will be our strongest challengers to the title, for us we have to think about our own game. The biggest challenge for us is to be better than yesterday. We have to spend every day thinking in that way.”
For third placed Chile, winning the bronze medal over Canada was seen as revenge for recent closely contested matches – in the senior 2015 Women’s Pan American Games in Toronto, Canada won 1-0, while at the Women’s Junior Pan American Championship in 2012, it was Canada who beat Chile 3-1 in the semi-finals.
"We achieved our goal, we got the Pan American bronze medal,” said a member of the coaching team after the game. “Two years of effort has begun to pay off, however, this is just a first step towards something bigger, the Under-21 World Cup."
For all three Pan-American Junior World Cup contenders, the next few months are vital in their preparations. For many of the USA and Argentinian players, there is an Olympic Games to consider first. But for Chile’s players, the biggest stage of their hockey careers so far is closer to home and all their attention will be focused on performing on their home turf in Santiago.
The women’s Junior World Cup runs from 24 November to 4 December.
