Abbott selected to 2006 U.S. National Training Team

Squad will
practice during selected weeks from January-May of 2006

OKLAHOMA CITY – A two-time National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) All-American and a hurler for the prestigious U.S. National Team during this past summer’s World Cup of Softball and Japan Cup events, rising junior Monica Abbott will continue to carry the Red, White & Blue torch for the Tennessee Lady Vol softball program through next year. 
The 6-3 lefthander has been chosen as a member of the 2006 U.S. National Training Squad by the Women’s National Team Selection Committee following a four-day selection camp held over Sept. 7-10 in Chula Vista, Calif.  The training team will practice together during selected weeks from January-May of 2006. 
The players were evaluated in order to choose not only the training squad, but also a 17-member Pan American Qualifier team that will compete in Guatemala City, Guatemala, over Nov. 26-Dec. 5 and in a qualifier tournament for the 2006 World Championships in Beijing and the 2007 Pan American Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Record-setting pitcher Abbott picked up a pair of victories with the prestigious U.S. National Team during the U.S. National Team’s 2005 summer tour. 
At the inaugural World Cup of Softball in Oklahoma City, Okla., Abbott hurled three innings while allowing a pair of runs in an 11-3, preliminary round romp over China.  In the second game of a three-game Sendai match with Team Japan, the Salinas, Calif., native allowed two runs in four innings of work as Team USA bested Japan, 5-3.   
The Amateur Softball Association, founded in 1933, is the National Governing Body of softball in the United States and a member of the United States Olympic Committee. 
The ASA has become one of the nation’s largest sports organizations and now sanctions competition in every state through a network of 88 local associations.  As the National Governing Body, the ASA is responsible for identifying, selecting and training male and female athletes to compete in World, Pan American and Olympic competitions. In addition to those duties, the ASA conducts the only recognized National Championship competitions in the United States.