(scrumpix.co.uk)

USA Rugby has announced changes to its age eligibility requirements pertaining to the U20 Women’s National Team for the 2009/2010 season.

To be eligible for the women U20s squad for the upcoming season players must be under 20 years old on September 1, 2009.

This is a change to the prior date of January 1, 2010.

“Both the England and Wales U20 programs use the September 1 date and this change will put us on the same page as those programs,” said USA U20 women’s coach Bryn Chivers.

“Furthermore, there is another benefit to the change as we also have the opportunity to align the eligibility criteria for the Territorial Union U19 programs with the Girls’ U19 National Championships.”

Asked about the eligibility change Alex Williams, the Women’s High Performance Director added, “While the final match highlighted the attention England has been putting into their U20 program, our U20s are coming off an overall successful Nations Cup and it’s important for us to use the same eligibility criteria as the team ahead of us and the teams that are now chasing us.”

For more information on the women’s U20s, please visit www.usarugby.org/goto/womens_u20 or contact Bryn Chivers at bryn.chivers@gmail.com