Elite Squad Players Shine at Team USA Events

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With the 2012 Olympics around the corner it reminded us the thrill it must be to go overseas and compete for your country. As an organization, Elite Squad has been fortunate to have had such talented players selected to compete and be invited to participate to represent our country. Below you will see a list of players and what events they have been invited for. Here is a quick breakdown on how it works.

This year due to the change in the rules players now are selected at the 13u, 15u and 17u age group. In the past they used to be selected at 14u, 16u, and 18u age groups.

The way the 14u and 16u (now 13u and 15u  teams) were selected were either by the NTIS tryouts held around the country, and then those players were chosen to go to the NTIS event (Cary, NC)  in the fall to then be chosen to the 40 man trials roster in the summer. The more popular way to get selected in the past was to attend the Junior Olympics (16u championship east/west) where 15 players out of a field of 72 teams were chosen from the Floridan and Arizona Tournaments.

At the 18u level the event to be chosen to compete in the trials is based off of “The Tournament of Stars” this event is by invite only and selects the best 200 17u players in the country to compete in a round robin tournament while each game is evaluated by USA coaches.

Below is a list of Elite Squad Players that have been invited by Team USA to their final trials before making a Team USA roster.

 

 

Year Player Event *
2009 Michael Klement USA 16u National Trials Invitee  
2010 Ivan Palaez USA 16u National Trials Invitee *
2010 Nick Travieso USA 16u National Trials Invitee *
2011 Chris Chinea Tournament of Stars Invitee  
2011 Adrian Marin Tournament of Stars Invitee  
2011 Willie Abreu USA 16u National Trials Invitee *
2011 Zack Collins USA 16u National Trials Invitee *
2011 Dominic Dicaprio USA 14u National Trials Invitee *
2012 Christian Palaez USA 16u National Trials Invitee *
2012 Christian Palaez Tournament of Stars Invitee  
2012 Shaun Anderson Tournament of Stars Invitee  
2012 Touki Toussiant Tournament of Stars Invitee  
2012 Willie Abrue Tournament of Stars Invitee *
2012 Zack Collins Tournament of Stars Invitee *
2012 Dominic Dicaprio USA 15u Trials Invitee  
2012 Benito Ivan Santiago USA 17u Trials Invitee