Northwest Missouri State University football players Jordan Harold (St. Louis, Mo.), Nicholas Turner (St. Louis, Mo.) and Myles McIntyre (St. Louis, Mo.) have been named to the U.S. Under-19 National Team. All three players were redshirt-freshmen on the Bearcats’ 2013 NCAA Division II National Championship team.
The team, which was assembled by USA Football, will compete in the 2014 International Federation of AmericanFootball Under-19 World Championships. The eight-nation tournament will be held in Kuwait City, Kuwait, on July 7-16.
IFAF is composed of 64 nations spanning six continents that possess a national federation dedicated solely to American football.
The U.S. Under-19 National Team includes athletes representing 20 states and will compete in a field against national teams from Austria, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, Kuwait and Mexico. The United States won the inaugural IFAF Under-19 World Championship in 2009 in Canton, Ohio. Canada claimed the 2012 gold medal in Austin, Texas.
The International Olympic Committee granted IFAF provisional IOC recognition during its December meeting in Lausanne, Switzerland. A vote on football could take place as early as 2017. If approved, football would join the Summer Olympics lineup in 2024 at a host city yet to be determined. USA Football is the United States’ delegate to IFAF.
U.S. players and coaches will take part in a training camp June 25 to July 1 at Shenandoah University in Winchester, Va. The team departs for Kuwait on July 2. The United States’ pool play schedule is:
Tuesday, July 8 – 1 p.m. (ET) vs. Mexico
Friday, July 11 – 4 p.m. (ET) vs. Germany
Sunday, July 13 – 4 p.m. (ET) vs. Japan
Games begin at 8 and 11 p.m. local time. The gold medal game is 4 p.m. (ET) Wednesday, July 16, between pool winners.
A national team exemption granted by the NCAA allows current college players to take part and for high schoolseniors to play for USA Football and not have their participation count among their two permitted all-star game appearances. The IFAF Under-19 World Championship is recognized as a national team competition.
USA Football is the sport’s national governing body in the United States.
— Northwest Sports Information —