BALTIMORE — Wendy Kridel, who has led the United States to two International Federation of Women's Lacrosse Associations' U-19 world championships, has been named head coach of the 2007 U.S. U-19 Women's Lacrosse Team. Kridel was the head coach for the U.S. team that captured the 1999 IFWLA U-19 championship in Perth, Australia and the 2003 IFWLA U-19 championship in Towson, Md.

"We're excited that Wendy has agreed to serve in this role again," said Chip Rogers, chair of the US Lacrosse Women's Division National Teams Committee. "She has a demonstrated record of success, both on and off the field. We had a tremendous pool of candidates for this position – showing the growth and development of our sport. The combination of Wendy's success at the high school level and with the U.S. program made her our top choice."

Kridel has been the head coach at The Bryn Mawr School in Baltimore, Md., since 1997 and is now also the athletic director at the school. She previously coached at Towson (Md.) High School and Roland Park Country School. In 16 years of coaching she has won seven league championships and her combined record entering this spring was 154-33-4.

At the international level, Kridel has led the U.S. to a perfect 14-0 record as a head coach in her two IFWLA U-19 world championships. Kridel's 2003 team outscored its opponents 146-32 and defeated Australia 21-8 to win the gold medal. Kridel was also an assistant coach for the U.S. team that won the silver medal in the 1995 IFWLA U-19 world championship.

Kridel is a 1988 graduate of the University of Delaware and earned a Master's degree from Towson University in 1995. In 2003 she was inducted into the US Lacrosse Greater Baltimore Chapter Hall of Fame.

The 2007 IFWLA U-19 World Championship will be held from Aug. 4-12, 2007 in city of Peterborough in Ontario, Canada. The first round of tryouts for the team is tied into the 2006 US Lacrosse Women's Division National Tournament, which will be held from May 26-28 in Bethlehem, Pa. Any player wishing to compete on the 2007 U-19 team must be selected to play for one of their regional teams at this year's National Tournament. Players must also be 18 or under on December 31, 2006 and must not graduate from high school prior to 2007.

The US Lacrosse Women's Division National Teams Committee is responsible for the oversight of the for the U.S. Under-19, Elite and Developmental teams.

US Lacrosse, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, is the national governing body for men's and women's lacrosse. To learn more about the organization, please visit www.uslacrosse.org. Warrior Lacrosse is the exclusive equipment and apparel supplier for the U.S. women's national teams program. To learn more about the company, please visit www.warriorlacrosse.com.

Exclusive Equipment & Apparel
Supplier to the U.S. Women's
National Team Programs

# # #