2025 Wharton graduate and Penn women’s lacrosse midfielder Anna Brandt is gearing up to compete in the Pan-American Women’s Lacrosse Championship in Auburndale, Fla., representing Team USA.
“I think about [representing Team USA] all the time too and it really grounds me sometimes and keeps me grateful, and I feel so blessed to have this opportunity,” Brandt said. “If you would have told my eight-year-old self when I first picked up a lacrosse stick that you’ll be putting on a USA jersey someday, I wouldn’t believe you. It’s been such a crazy dream. I would've never thought I would even have the opportunity to do it.”
Brandt and the rest of Team USA spent last week in Sparks, Md. — just 30 minutes away from Brandt’s hometown of White Hall, Md. — in a training camp under head coach Acacia Walker-Weinstein and assistant coach and 2008 College graduate Melissa Lehman. Lehman was a former Penn women’s lacrosse midfielder and assistant coach herself and is now the current head coach at Rutgers.
This is neither Brandt’s first involvement with Team USA nor her first training camp, as she was invited to a training camp back in November 2024. Though she has experience training with Team USA, this is the first time she will be donning the red, white, and blue to compete against other teams and other countries.
“The training camps are amazing. You get to play with all different types of players, all different years, girls you played against in college, girls you played with.” Brandt said. “It’s really a neat experience and I’m super excited to get to play some new competition.”
The championship games begin on Thursday, June 29 where Team USA is in Pool A along with Peru, Mexico, and Puerto Rico. Brandt's first game is against Puerto Rico, then against Peru and Mexico on Friday and Saturday. After pool play, semifinals and placement games are set for Sunday, which is followed by medal games on Monday. The eight competing teams of the Pan-American Association came from all over the Americas and Caribbean and are striving to qualify for spots in the 2026 Women's World Lacrosse Championship. The top four teams will move on to Division I of the World Championship, and the following three teams will fill the Division II spots.
Brandt is excited to play at the highest level of lacrosse, especially in a team USA jersey. She feels that putting on a USA jersey is a monumental achievement and a great honor.
“It's just like an entirely new set of players and community. So I'm super excited for the elevation of the game and what that will be like.” Brandt said. “To represent our country means so much and [to] hopefully get to bring home the gold against some of these other countries and competition is an incredible feeling.”
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However, Brandt knows that her time on the lacrosse team will not be forever. She plans on seeing her opportunity to continue playing lacrosse to its fullest extent, but plans on fulfilling another one of her passions by going to law school down the line.
“Lacrosse has been so great, and I just don’t want to stop playing. The more I can just make the most of what’s in front of me and just really see that coming to fruition and ride this dream out until it’s done … see where this takes me and play lacrosse as long as I can.” Brandt said. “It's just so fun and I’m not ready to give up and hang up the cleats just yet.”
