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Sports

USA U18 Girls National Fistball Team heads to Germany with Sparta's Kelli Vogel

The team is competing at the Youth World Fistball Championships, Nürnberg-Eibach, Germany on July 20-24, 2016

July 13, 2016 - Sparta,NJ - At the end of the week, the first ever USA U18 Girls National Fistball Team will be leaving for Germany with Sparta High School’s Kelli Vogel wearing jersey #5. The team is competing at the Youth World Fistball Championships, Nürnberg-Eibach, Germany on July 20-24, 2016.

In addition to playing on the National Fistball team, Ms. Vogel plays Volleyball and Lacrosse, but is also known to volunteer with Oscar Animal Rescue. Kelli tried out for the team out of curiosity to see how Volleyball and Fistball compare, but also because she likes to try new things.

When asked about the experience and what she’s learned, Ms. Vogel had this to say “I have learned a lot, but the most important thing I learned about being a part of the team is that it is definitely a team sport and everyone has important jobs to do to make the points. I was surprised by how well we play together as a team in the short amount of time practicing together.”

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What would you say to people who don’t know about Fistball? “First I would explain what the sport is and how it is played then I would encourage them to try it.”

The team has been practicing at the Swim and Sport Club at 272 Emmans Road, Roxbury, NJ since early May to compete against U18 Girl’s teams from Austria, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Germany, India, Kenya, Switzerland and Togo.

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With partial funding from the United States Fistball Association, the team has been pursuing corporate sponsorships, individual donations and apparral sales to help defer the extensive costs to the team members.

The team funding page is found at:https://igg.me/at/-OGgNYeM35I

Official USFA apparel with all profits going to the U18 Girls Team is found at the following link..http://ascuniforms.soccercorner.com/stores/usfajuly

Photo Credit: USFA U18 Girls National Team:

Team Roster:

#1 Valerie Houghton - Maplewood, NJ

#2 Olivia Woodruff - Maplewood, NJ

#3 Christine Connelly (capt.) - Rockaway, NJ

#4 Kayley Moran - Hacketstown, NJ

#5 Kelli Vogel - Sparta, NJ

#7 Bayleigh Takacs - Sparta, NJ

#9 Alexx Berdej - Roxbury, NJ

#10 Kate Tagliareni - Hacketstown, NJ

missing in the picture #8 Kumali Schoen - Menlo Park, Ca.

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