It's shaping up to be another busy fall for Tsawwassen field hockey standout Sara McManus.
Fresh off playing for Canada at the Junior World Cup in Germany, the 20-year-old defender is one of 18 players named to the senior women's roster for the upcoming Pan American Cup in Argentina.
The tournament takes place Sept. 21-28 in Mendoza. Canada draws Argentina, Guyana, and Trinidad and Tobago in Pool A, and opens the tournament against Guyana. The event serves as a qualifier for the 2014 World Cup in The Hague.
Canadian head coach Ian Rutledge has named eight juniors to the squad as the program looks to the future that includes the 2015 Pan American Games in Toronto and potentially qualifying for the 2016 Summer Olympic Games in Rio.
"We are still a new and young team, attempting to modernize our style of play. Our focus has been about perfecting our offensive and defensive structure and system and move these from the cognitive to the automatic stages," said Rutledge.
"The final push to the PAC will be about focusing on individual and system refinements to ensure we are optimally prepared ahead of the tournament."
McManus is also one of nine members of the UBC Thunderbirds named to the team. They will return home and jump right into their Canada West schedule as the Thunderbirds attempt to defend their CIS national championship.
The South Delta secondary graduate led UBC with six goals at 2012 nationals including a hat trick in the championship game against Toronto.
