The USA women's 7s team has been picked to play in Perth, Australia and there are a few changes.

While Alena Olsen and Kayla Canett return as co-captains, the USA team has a bit more experience with Olympian Kristi Kirshe rejoining the squad. They also bring in a debutante in former PR 7s Loggerheads and West Chester University player Autumn Czaplicki, who will play in her first SVNS tournament.

Facing Fiji, Great Britain, and Canada, the USA comes into the SVNS Australian stop ranked 4th in the standings, and Head Coach Emilie Bydwell feels pretty good about where they are, especially considering how young the team was that played in Dubai and Cape Town.

“We were thrilled with our Cape Town performance, capping off an incredible 2024 for the program with a silver medal [in Cape Town]," Bydwell said. "The players showed remarkable commitment in the short turnaround between Dubai and Cape Town, zeroing in on the areas where we could be 5% better. Coming out of Cape Town, we refocused on our overarching goals for the season: building a solid foundation of physical capacity and technical skills that we can continue to build on throughout the rest of the squad."

"As we head into Perth," Bydwell continued, "we remain relentlessly focused on refining our technical execution while also deepening our understanding of how to maximize our attack as a cohesive unit, leveraging the unique strengths across the field. Perth presents an exciting challenge, particularly in terms of psychological flexibility and managing the expectations that come after our Cape Town performance. We’ll use this as an opportunity to further develop our process, honing our ability to control our attention and take effective action under pressure. We’re excited for the challenges pool play will bring, and we’ll approach each one as an opportunity to optimize our potential.”

The USA Women will finish the SVNS Season May 3-4 at the LA Sevens at Dignity Health Sports Park. Tickets are on sale now. Go here for tickets>>