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Bowling Green State University Athletics
Casagrande to Work with U.S. U-20 WNT in France
June 01, 2018 | Women's Soccer
Former BGSU Player and Coach to Assist National Team at Round-Robin Tournament Next Week
Bowling Green State University women's soccer alumna Ivi Casagrande is heading to France to assist with national-team training. Casagrande, who both played and coached at BGSU, will serve as sports scientist for the U.S. Under-20 Women's National Team.
The team will travel to France to participate in the Tournoi Maurice Revello Sud Ladies Cup that will also feature Germany, Haiti and the host nation, France. All four teams in the round-robin tournament have qualified for the 2018 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup, which will take place in France from Aug. 5-24. Casagrande is helping out the U-20 team due to a conflict in scheduling.
"I am beyond excited with this opportunity to assist the U-20 team for a week in France as they go through their final preparations before the World Cup in August," said Casagrande. "It has always been a dream of mine to represent a country at the national level, and the chance to be around one of the best program in the world in terms of athlete development and preparation is really exciting."
The USA will face Germany to open the Sud Ladies Cup on Tuesday (June 5). Then, U.S. U-20 head coach Jitka Klimkova's team will face fellow qualifier Haiti on Thursday (June 7), before meeting host France three days later (June 10). All three matches will take place at the Stade D'honneur D'athletisme in Salon-de-Provence, approximately 30 miles north of Marseille.
"It was immediately clear when I arrived at BG that Ivi is incredibly talented," said BGSU head coach Matt Fannon. "Her passion and dedication to her field help everyone in our program to grow, including our staff. We are very proud that she has been given this opportunity by US Soccer, but we are not at all surprised. Ivi is an unbelievable sports scientist – and person – and I hope one day I am lucky enough to be her assistant!"
Casagrande, who is currently the Director of Sports Performance at RedLine Youth Athletic Training Centers, worked with the women's soccer Falcons as a sports performance coach in 2016 and '17. The 2017 Falcons posted a 13-7-1 overall record and advanced all the way to the championship match of the Mid-American Conference Tournament in Fannon's first season at the helm.
"I was fortunate to be the Sports Performance coach for BGSU Women's Soccer for two years while pursuing my Masters degree, and I think the experience shaped my philosophy as a coach," said Casagrande. "I was given the freedom to experiment and apply all my theory from my masters and internships with the girls. This definitely made me grow professionally, as I learned with my own mistakes and had to critically think about the process I wanted to build in order to have a team that would be prepared physically and have durability throughout the entire season.
"So, I definitely want to thank all of the BGSU staff members from the past two years, my current staff at Redline Athletics, and also all my mentors who constantly make me a better person and coach. This is only another step of my own professional development and personal growth. "
Casagrande earned four letters with the Falcons (2010-13), playing in 49 career matches. She made 17 career starts, including nine in her senior season of 2013, and was a two-time Academic All-MAC Team selection.
Casagrande, a native of Belo Horizonte, Brazil, earned a Bachelor of Applied Health Science degree from BGSU in 2014. and received a Master's degree in Exercise Physiology in 2017.
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The team will travel to France to participate in the Tournoi Maurice Revello Sud Ladies Cup that will also feature Germany, Haiti and the host nation, France. All four teams in the round-robin tournament have qualified for the 2018 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup, which will take place in France from Aug. 5-24. Casagrande is helping out the U-20 team due to a conflict in scheduling.
"I am beyond excited with this opportunity to assist the U-20 team for a week in France as they go through their final preparations before the World Cup in August," said Casagrande. "It has always been a dream of mine to represent a country at the national level, and the chance to be around one of the best program in the world in terms of athlete development and preparation is really exciting."
The USA will face Germany to open the Sud Ladies Cup on Tuesday (June 5). Then, U.S. U-20 head coach Jitka Klimkova's team will face fellow qualifier Haiti on Thursday (June 7), before meeting host France three days later (June 10). All three matches will take place at the Stade D'honneur D'athletisme in Salon-de-Provence, approximately 30 miles north of Marseille.
"It was immediately clear when I arrived at BG that Ivi is incredibly talented," said BGSU head coach Matt Fannon. "Her passion and dedication to her field help everyone in our program to grow, including our staff. We are very proud that she has been given this opportunity by US Soccer, but we are not at all surprised. Ivi is an unbelievable sports scientist – and person – and I hope one day I am lucky enough to be her assistant!"
Casagrande, who is currently the Director of Sports Performance at RedLine Youth Athletic Training Centers, worked with the women's soccer Falcons as a sports performance coach in 2016 and '17. The 2017 Falcons posted a 13-7-1 overall record and advanced all the way to the championship match of the Mid-American Conference Tournament in Fannon's first season at the helm.
"I was fortunate to be the Sports Performance coach for BGSU Women's Soccer for two years while pursuing my Masters degree, and I think the experience shaped my philosophy as a coach," said Casagrande. "I was given the freedom to experiment and apply all my theory from my masters and internships with the girls. This definitely made me grow professionally, as I learned with my own mistakes and had to critically think about the process I wanted to build in order to have a team that would be prepared physically and have durability throughout the entire season.
"So, I definitely want to thank all of the BGSU staff members from the past two years, my current staff at Redline Athletics, and also all my mentors who constantly make me a better person and coach. This is only another step of my own professional development and personal growth. "
Casagrande earned four letters with the Falcons (2010-13), playing in 49 career matches. She made 17 career starts, including nine in her senior season of 2013, and was a two-time Academic All-MAC Team selection.
Casagrande, a native of Belo Horizonte, Brazil, earned a Bachelor of Applied Health Science degree from BGSU in 2014. and received a Master's degree in Exercise Physiology in 2017.
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