Toms River East's Shea Holland Called To U.S. Soccer National Training Camp

TOMS RIVER, NJ — A Toms River teen is among 28 soccer players called into training camp as the U.S. Under-17 Women’s National Team prepares for the FIFA U17 Women's World Cup.

Shea Holland, a junior defender who plays high school soccer at Toms River East, is headed to Michigan this weekend for the national team camp, which includes two matches against Brazil, according to a news release from U.S. Soccer.

Holland also plays for the Players Development Academy Gunners, who won the Elite Clubs National League Under-16 national championship earlier this month. She has orally committed to play her college soccer for Rutgers University.

Holland had 10 goals and 4 assists last year for the 16-6-1 Raiders, who reached the NJSIAA Central Jersey Group III final before falling to Colts Neck. Colts Neck is led by Holland's teammate on the national squad, Frankie Tagliaferri.

The U17 squad will play Brazil on Tuesday, Aug. 9, at Michigan State University in East Lansing, Mich. The game begins at 6 p.m. And the teams play again Friday, Aug. 12 in Holland, Mich., with a 7 p.m. kickoff.

The matches will be among the final chances to evaluate the players before coach B.J. Snow chooses the final roster for the 2016 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup.

“The decisions that we will have to make to finalize our roster will be exceptionally difficult and that is why playing these two international games is so vitally important,” Snow said in the news release. “These games offer us one of the last opportunities to assess our players and our team so we are hoping to simulate a World Cup environment as much as possible."

The team won the CONCACAF U-17 Women’s Championship played in Grenada, beating Mexico 2-1 to earn a berth to the upcoming World Cup. The U-17s are undefeated in 10 international games this year.

"We will be capping a long and rigorous evaluation process and the players that have matriculated their way here deserve a ton of credit," Snow said. "The depth of this player pool has been extraordinary, so the fact that they are even in the conversation for a final roster spot at this point in time is something that these players should be extremely proud of.”

Brazil was drawn into Group C at the 2016 FIFA Under-17 Women’s World Cup in Jordan along with Nigeria, England and Korea DPR. The USA was drawn into Group D with Paraguay, Ghana and Japan. The USA and Brazil could potentially meet in the knockout rounds in Jordan should both advance out of the group, the release said.

The U.S. plays its first Group D match against Paraguay on Oct. 1 at Prince Mohammed International Stadium in Al Zarqa (9 a.m. ET) before facing Ghana on Oct. 4 at King Abdullah II International Stadium in Amman (9 a.m. ET). The USA will finish group play on Oct. 8 against Japan at Amman International Stadium (noon ET).

Shea Holland photo via YouTube video highlights