The USWNT Return to Camp

Just last month the United States Women’s National Soccer Team held a ten-day-long training camp in Denver, Colorado. This was the first time the entire team had been together since the She Believes Cup in March of 2020. The new player roster consisted of 27 players, many being younger and newer faces.

Coach Vlatko Andovoski said, “Getting the National Team back together brings us relief and excitement, and I’m thankful for all the work done behind the scenes to make this happen” Even with notable players like , , , and not available for the camp as they were playing overseas in Europe’s Women League there was still buzz around the camp. Rose and Sam are both signed on for short- term contracts with Manchester City while Tobin and Christen are signed with Manchester United. Also missing from the usual list of call-ups were and , who are both currently undergoing recovery from injuries they sustained earlier this year. , a very well known face and name for the team, opted out of the camp due to COVID concerns. was also missing because of playing overseas and the birth of her daughter only six months ago. The camp focused on getting to know the new faces and getting back into the swing of team training; therefore, there were no international games during this camp.

The roster created for the camp consisted of four goalkeepers, ten defenders, seven midfielders, and six forwards. For many of the players like and , this was their first senior team call up. There are four college players on the roster: Mia Fishel, Naomi Girma, Jaeilin Howell, and Catarina Macario. With the Pac-12 Conference potentially pushing women’s soccer to the spring due to the pandemic, the two Stanford players and UCLA’s Fishel have not played any matches this fall. On the other hand, all the players coming from the NWSL have played a series of games in both the month-long challenge cup tournament and the four-game fall series. Even the Challenge Cup proposed difficulties with how Coach Vlatko and his staff could easily scout out new players. Some players like and Kealia Watt were getting their chance to shine again after playing on youth teams but never quite making the senior team as a regular. Kristie Mewis, who has fifteen caps with the National Team, was a standout in both the Challenge Cup and Fall Series. The coaching staff wanted to see that players were pushing themselves even in this not so a conventional year.

Pictured: Coach ready and excited for the camp to begin

In an interview done with The Atheltic, Coach Vlatko Andonovski said, “That’s why watching the game live — or if not live, in technical footage — is extremely important. When we’re watching the game, if Kristie is the point of focus, then we usually have one person following her the whole time, regardless of where the ball is. We have one person that is generating notes about her movement and her decision in proportion to the ball, in regards to the opponents and her own players.” The technical aspect of games, when watching footage and watching live, was something crucial that staff focused on. In order to make sure players are fit and ready to be called up, coaching staff spent hours watching the footage of games and talking to players one on one. This is all done with the idea of getting new faces into the team so that they could deepen the player pool for the future.

Pictured: The first day back to full team training and already running drills

“We’re looking forward to getting this group together in Colorado and we really like the mix of players as far as age, experience level, and positions,” The camp staff wanted to use this opportunity to give players who were succeeding with their club or their college the chance to really step up in the high-intensity environment that is the senior team. He felt that there was no better time than the October camp because with some regulars missing it left many spots open to younger players who are being integrated into the program with retirement hedging for several players.Andonovski also states, “We have a lot of uncapped players and a few who have had the chance to earn a few caps, but we know that deepening our player pool is important as we head into 2021.” Pictured: Goalkeeper staying sharp with her skills

Deepening the pool of players, especially younger ones, going into another cycle of Olympics and World Cups is extremely crucial to the future success of the team. According to a study done by ESPN just after the 2019 Women’s World Cup, the average age of the team was 28.7. While that may not seem old, the world of sports is harsh on the players with constant matches and injuries. The USWNT is a very dominant team, however, other nations are beginning to catch up because of their incorporation of youth into the teams. Youth on the senior team is something that the national team has lacked, most players not coming in until they were twenty to twenty- one. The youngest player on the team who capped for the senior team was Mallory Pugh and she was only seventeen when that happened. In comparison to other nations, like Canada and Australia, they had players getting their first caps for the team at just fifteen years old. Coming into a new era of the USWNT with coach Vlatko Andonovski there was a big hope that the introduction of younger players who were ready to play at the highest level would occur. So far he has been succeeding, inviting many college players, the youngest being nineteen. In the October training camp, the average age dropped by two, becoming 26.5. The USWNT is still one of the older national teams however, Vlatko and his staff are clear that as time goes on more and more younger players will be seen.

Due to the COVID pandemic, coming into this camp was very different than normal for all the players and staff. Before players even left for the camp, they had to be tested for COVID and show a negative result in order to be permitted. When the players arrived in Denver, they went straight to get a rapid test and a second test that took twenty-four hours for results. They were sent to isolate themselves in their rooms while they awaited the test results. No one was allowed to interact with each other until after everyone’s negative test results came back. On the first night of camp, the welcome meeting was conducted over a Zoom meeting to address all of the protocols that included wearing masks unless players were on the field, washing hands at least once an hour, and completing the disinfection of all equipment after use. Players’ temperatures were frequently taken and they were only allowed to leave the hotel to go to the training facilities where they were kept under close supervision.

Pictured: Coach Vlatko Andonovski talking to the team after a training session In order to make sure no one tested positive camp had very strict guidelines but it went off without a hitch. The medical staff made it very clear that the safety of the players was of the utmost importance. Dr. George Chimpas, who also worked with many of the players in the NWSL, stated, “We’ve worked hard to make sure our players and staff are aware of all our strategies and protocols so they will feel safe in the environment. We all have our responsibilities individually to execute the proper maintenance of the environment, but collectively as a team, we all need to work together to make sure we can have the safest and most productive camp in October, as well as for events moving forward.”

After the COVID tests came back, the players trained in small groups, called pods, to make sure everyone got acclimated with one another as well as to ensure the safety of the players and staff for the first few days. The coaching staff was out on the fields for nearly seven hours with all the different pods, but they said they were just happy to be back coaching and watching players. They then got into full team training with drills going off as if it were any normal camp. The only noticeable differences were the masks and gloves that the coaching staff had to wear. To ensure safety when they weren’t on the pitch, players were given assigned seats for eating and for meetings that were socially distanced. All the players valued their opportunity to even be at a camp in the midst of the pandemic so all the precautions were taken very seriously.

Over the week many COVID tests were taken but because of all the protocols ensured to keep everyone safe there were no worries. By the end of the ten days, no one had tested positive. The camp gave the coaches and staff an excellent view of new players, especially going into this Olympic year. Pictured: Ashley Sanchez and , both earning their first senior team call up