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http://www.gulflive.com/sports/mississippipress/index.ssf?/base/sports/1154772970139440.xml

VANCLEAVE -- Ocean Springs native Brittany Kiernan has been invited by USA Athletes International, Inc. to represent the state of Mississippi and her country in the Chianti Goodwill Games in Chianti, Italy on Aug. 6-17.

Brittany Kiernan, who signed to play with the University of Central Arkansas this past spring, played high school softball and basketball at St. Martin High School, before playing the last two seasons for Jones Junior College's softball team. She finished the 2006 season with a .434 batting average for the Lady Bobcats.

Wow. I've never heard of this USA Athletes International organization, but it can't be a bad thing to be selected to play in Italy.

Let's hope she has a .434 average next year as well.

Good update Josh.

I am relatively new to the forum... been reading for a while, but just registered today. I know a little about USA Athletes International. My son was invited to play baseball in Aruba this summer. He actually went to Italy last year with a different organization. We opted not to let him go to Aruba as it looked more like a vacation than a sporting event.

Normally, the kids get "invited" to events by a coach that either knows the player or has them on his/her recruit list. At least that it my experience with the USA Athletes International group. There is no tryout for this and it is very expensive. I think this was probably the case here also. However, it really doesn't matter because Brittany will have a great time and will get to visit a country that most will never go to. Good luck to her.

Thanks for joining the forum, and thanks for putting a little light on the subject.