Hackettstown HS Graduate Heading to Youth World Championships

July 7, 2016 - Hackettstown, NJ - As a member of the historic first ever USA U18 Girls Fistball Team, Kate Tagliareni, Hackettstown High School Class of 2016 will be competing in Nürnberg-Eibach, Germany July 20-24, 2016. Representing the United States, she will be wearing #10 at the Youth World Fistball Championships.

Ms. Tagliareni, 17 who will be attending Iona College in the fall was inspired to try out for the team because it is similar to Volleyball, one of her other interests and is sounded like a lot of fun.

A long-time competitive volleyball player, her experience with the US National Team has reinforced her work-ethic, saying “The more work you put into it the more results you get.”

Much like her teammates, she had never played Fistball but learned it’s unique technique quickly. When asked about the U18 Team and Fistball, Ms. Tagliareni had this to say “I was surprised by how much we've grown together as a team and meshed as a unit. For those that don’t know fistball, I’d tell them to give it a try because it's exhilarating and a lot of fun with how fast paced it is.”

The team has been practicing at the Swim and Sport Club at 272 Emmans Road, Roxbury, NJ since early May to compete against U18 Girl’s teams from Austria, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Germany, India, Kenya, Switzerland and Togo.

With partial funding from the United States Fistball Association, the team has been pursuing corporate sponsorships, individual donations and apparrel sales to help defer the extensive costs to the team members.

The team funding page is found at: https://igg.me/at/-OGgNYeM35I

Official USFA apparel with all profits going to the U18 Girls Team is found at the following link.. http://ascuniforms.soccercorner.com/stores/usfajuly

Photo Credit: USFA U18 Girls National Team: Kneeling left to right. Valerie Houghton, Alexandra Berdej, Christine Connelly, Kayley Moran, Kelli Vogel, Bayleigh Takacs, and Kate Tagliareni (not pictured is Kumali Schoen)

Team Roster:

#1 Valerie Houghton - Maplewood, NJ
#2 Olivia Woodruff - Maplewood, NJ
#3 Christine Connelly (capt.) - Rockaway, NJ
#4 Kayley Moran - Hacketstown, NJ
#5 Kelli Vogel - Sparta, NJ
#7 Bayleigh Takacs - Sparta, NJ
#9 Alexx Berdej - Roxbury, NJ
#10 Kate Tagliareni - Hacketstown, NJ
missing in the picture #8 Kumali Schoen - Menlo Park, Ca.

For US National Team corporate sponsorship or other details please contact Bob Feid, President, USFA - bobf2@optonline.net

CLICK HERE to learn more about Fistball - http://usfistball.com/

CLICK HERE for information on their home field, the Swim and Sport Club - http://www.swimandsportclub.org/

CLICK HERE for more information on the Youth World Fistball Championships - http://u18wm2016.de/en/