eagles.rugby — The USA Rugby Women’s U20 Team is in Stellenbosch, South Africa for a two-test tour against the Junior Springbok Women. Games occur on Friday, July 17 and Friday, July 24, and they will live-stream on the South Africa Rugby Union YouTube channel . [lead photo: Luke Panzer for USA Rugby]
USA U20 head coach Katie Dowty and staff have selected a squad of 26 for the overseas tour, as well as seven reserves. The majority of players are current collegians, but there are a handful of players who have just graduated high school and will join their college rugby programs as freshmen after tour. Life University leads all selections with nine players. The Running Eagles had a spectacular 2025-26, winning CRAA DI 15s, CRAA Premier 7s, and USA Club Rugby DI 15s National Championship titles. LINK.
The bulk of the squad is playing its regular-season rugby at NCAA varsity institutions: DI Harvard (5), DI Lindenwood (4 – including incoming freshman Gianna Veetutu from Kent, Wash.), DI Dartmouth (4), DI La Salle and DII American International College. There are also two Americans who are playing internationally: Hawaii’s Salote Valikoula, who is at the High School Old Boys in Christchurch, New Zealand; and Oregon’s Seq’hiya Simmons, who transferred from Central Washington to Canada’s Univ. Lethbridge and is now playing in WER with Denver.
Frisby is one of nine Life Univ players on tour / Mianyas Photography
The larger group ran through an intensive training camp Mount St. Mary’s University in Emmitsburg, Md., last week. Players worked through their systems and familiarized themselves with different positional combinations before testing themselves in an intrasquad scrimmage last Friday. A set of seven reserves have also been named. They have all played high school rugby and several are NCAA varsity bound (list below).
South Africa has also released its U20 squad, which includes Keira Snyman, a U.S.-based player who played high school rugby with Valor in Colorado. Snyman, a USA Pathway member, actually graduated high school early and the first five months of 2026 training with the England U18 player developmental group. She will attend DI Queens University of Charlotte in the fall. Her involvement in the South Africa camp is “part of SA Rugby’s drive to identify and expose overseas-based players who are eligible to play for South Africa to the local women’s rugby structures.” Snyman is the daughter of former Springbok Andre Snyman.
The U20s are currently settling into Stellenbosch Academy of Sport, a high performance sports center and will run out onto Markotter Sports Field this Friday for the first of two tests against the South Africa U20s. Kickoff is slated for 9 a.m. ET, as is the rematch on Friday, July 24.
USA U20 TRAVEL SQUAD
Player – Current team (High School Team, if applicable)
Kaylie Castro – La Salle Univ (Tampa Bay, Fla.)
Evie Danhof – Lindenwood Univ (Yellowstone, Mont.)
Kiyanah Edwards – American International College (Columbia Central, Tenn.)
Nevaeh Elliott – Life Univ (Fallbrook, Calif.)
Jasmine Fehoko – Lindenwood Univ (Majestics, Utah)
Arielle Fotso – Dartmouth College (Carmel, Ind.)
Cora Haughey – Life Univ (Fallbrook, Calif.)
Annie Henrich – Dartmouth College (Orchard Park, N.Y.)
Alyssa Hine – Life Univ (fr BYU) (Rocky Mountain, Idaho)
Madelyn Hubbell – Harvard Univ (St. Joseph, Ohio)
Marley April Larkin – Dartmouth College (Majestics, Utah)
Amenekina Latu – Life Univ (San Mateo, Calif.)
Sana’a Lunon – Harvard Univ (Doylestown, Pa.)
JoJo Mignone – Harvard Univ (Morris, N.J.)
Reece Moody – Dartmouth College (Rocky Mountain, Idaho)
Keilikki Nau Rarick – Lindenwood Univ (Majestics, Utah)
Gemma Ogoke – Harvard Univ (Western Canada HS, Calgary)
Eseta Pale – Harvard Univ (Sacrament Amazons, Calif.)
Cecelia Rose – Life Univ (Green Bay, Wis.)
Seq’hiya Simmons – Univ Lethbridge (Can), WER Denver Onyx
Alilia Tuitavake – Life Univ (Portland Grackles, Ore.)
Salote Valikoula – High School Old Boys (NZ) (Pasefika, Hawaii)
Gianna Veetutu – Kent, Wash. (Lindenwood Univ ’30)
Bella Vogel – Life Univ (Knightmare, Pa.)
Dorothy Vunipola – Life Univ (Utah)
Player – Current team (future or previous team)
Natalie Allen – Frostburg State Univ (Vienna, Va.)
Marjorie Hoffman-Long – Berks County, Pa. (Brown ’30)
Bridget McGonigle – Doylestown, Pa. (Sacred Heart ’30)
Nakato Myers – Raleigh Cobras, N.C. (Dartmouth College ’30)
Aubrey Phillips – Boise State Univ. (Rocky Mountain, Idaho)
Sydney-Rae Pua – Belmont Shore, Calif.
Lesli Tupou – Majestics, Utah
SCHEDULE
Friday, July 17 @ Markotter Sport Field
9 a.m. ET USA U20s v Junior Springboks
Friday, July 24 @ Markotter Sport Field
9 a.m. ET USA U20s v Junior Springboks
STAFF
Strength &Conditioning Coach | Kristin Zdanczewicz
Lead Athletic Trainer | Sam Malette
Domestic Team Manager | Aiyana Gilliard
