With the 2024 FIFA Under-20 Women’s World Cup in the books and the 2024 FIFA Under-17 Women’s World Cup nearing its conclusion, the focus for the 2006 and 2007 birth years transitions to qualifying for the next U-20 WWC, and so the new two-year cycle begins with a domestic camp in West Palm Beach, Florida, that began on Thursday, October 24th, and runs through October 30th.
Since NCAA soccer is nearing the end of its regular season, head coach Carrie Kveton, has not called in any current collegiate players, nor has she called any age-eligible NWSL players from the recent U-20 WWC roster. As most of the 24 players are still in high school, a majority of the players, 15 in all, have 2007 birth years, while just nine of the 24 players were born in 2006, the lower cut-off year for this current one-year U-19 cycle. The 2007 birth year is also the lower cut-off year for the present U-17 WWC, so between the unavailability of players presently competing in the Dominican Republic and current college players, the selection philosophy for this roster is much more about exploring and expanding the pool of players for the next U-20 WWC (and beyond), rather than focusing on a primary pool of players.
The most notable player called into this camp is Houston Dash’s recent U-18 signing, 6’2″ midfielder Zoe Matthews, who is listed as a defender on this roster. Matthews is the only NWSL player called in and one of three professionals. The other pro players are forward Miri O’Donnell, who joined Sporting Clube de Portugal in late September, and goalkeeper Charlotte Burge, who signed with Carolina Ascent of the new USL Super League.
Three other players have signed academy contracts with USL Super Leauge teams, which allows those players to maintain their amateur status and thus NCAA eligibility: Defenders Emma Johnson (Lexington SC) and Reese Klein (Fort Lauderdale United) plus forward Sealey Strawn (Dallas Trinity). (USL Super League press release)
Of the 24 players called in, six appear to be first-timers, meaning that they have not been listed on a public U.S. Soccer youth camp roster before.
All but one of the non-professionals have announced their verbal college commitments.
Aside: A new cycle in a new era
In past two-year U-20 WWC cycles, standout players with U-18 birth years (e.g. 2008 for the 2026 edition), would be integrated with the older players during the first year. However, with the conversion of the U-17 WWC to an annual tournament, those players are now in the prime player pool for the odd-year editions of the U-17 WWC. So, outside of exceptional situations, it is unlikely that any players with 2008 birth years will be called in, at least on a consistent basis, during the current one-year U-19 cycle.
Roster, By Position
Parenthetical format: Club Team (with profile links for professional players); Hometown; verbal commitment (if applicable; with source link), expected high school graduation year
GOALKEEPERS (3):
- Burge, Charlotte (Carolina Ascent FC; Virginia Beach, Va.)
- Dessieux, Mateya (TopHat SC; Knoxville, Tenn.; Texas, 2025)
- Nelson, Nyamma (Portland Thorns Acad.; West Linn, Ore.; Northwestern, 2025)
DEFENDERS (8):
- Chu, Tyra (Nationals; Sterling Heights, Mich.; Minnesota, 2025)
- Gomez, Mariana (Los Angeles Breakers FC; Pasadena, Calif.; unknown, 2026)
- Johnson, Emma (Lexington SC; Greenfield, Ind.; Penn State, 2026)
- Klein, Reese (Florida United SC; Cooper City, Fla.; Clemson, 2025)
- Matthews, Zoe (Houston Dash; Southlake, Texas)
- Price, Kai (Concorde Fire; Atlanta, Ga.; Florida State, 2025)
- Rogers, Grayson (Concorde Fire; Atlanta, Ga.; Georgia, 2025)
- Small, Carla (IMG Acad.; Waipahu, Hawaii; Clemson, 2025)
MIDFIELDERS (6):
- Atehortua, Sofia (IMG Acad.; Trumbull, Conn.; UCLA, 2025)
- Cedeno, Ana Sofia (Solar SC; Dallas, Texas; UCLA, 2025)
- Devey, Bella (Utah Avalanche; Draper, Utah; UNC, 2025)
- Halpern, Addison (PDA; Middlesex, N.J.; Virginia, 2025)
- Kerr, Neely (TopHat SC; Buford, Ga.; Clemson, 2025)
- Ring, Kennedy (World Class FC; East Greenbush, N.Y.; Penn State, 2025)
FORWARDS (8):
- Ajeto, Ryder (Legends FC; Henderson, Nevada; Florida State, 2026)
- Knapp, Tessa (Internationals SC; Bay Village, Ohio; Notre Dame, 2025)
- Maxwell, Kylie (Philadelphia Ukrainian Nationals; Langhorne, Pa.; Wake Forest, 2025)
- McLanahan, Rylee (Solar SC; Edmond, Okla.; Florida, 2026)
- O’Donnell, Miri (Sporting CP; San Ramon, Calif)
- Oder, Avery (Beach FC; Calabasas, Calif.; Duke, 2025)
- Strawn, Sealey (Solar SC; Prosper, Texas; UNC, 2026)
Detailed Table, By Birth Year and Position
PLAYER P. YEAR HT. D.O.B. NEW TOURNAMENT(S)
Burge, Charlotte GK 2006 5'8" Yes n/a
Dessieux, Mateya GK 2006 5'10" No
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Klein, Reese DF 2006 5'7" 09/23/2006 No 2024 U20WWC-Alt
Rogers, Grayson DF 2006 Yes n/a
Small, Carla DF 2006 03/29/2006 No 2023 PanAm-Alt
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Cedeno, Ana Sofia MF 2006 5'1" Yes n/a
Halpern, Addison MF 2006 5'5" 12/05/2006 No 2024 U20WWC
Kerr, Neely MF 2006 5'10" 11/30/2006 No 2024 U20WWC-Alt
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O'Donnell, Miri FW 2006 5'5" 08/01/2006 No 2023 PanAm-Alt
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Nelson, Nyamma GK 2007 6'0" Yes n/a
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Chu, Tyra DF 2007 5'6" Yes n/a
Gomez, Mariana DF 2007 5'7" 11/02/2007 Yes n/a
Johnson, Emma DF 2007 5'3" 07/20/2007 No
Matthews, Zoe DF 2007 6'2" 05/25/2007 No
Price, Kai DF 2007 5'6" 02/16/2007 No 2022 CU15WC
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Atehortua, Sofia MF 2007 5'1" 03/15/2007 No 2022 CU15WC-Alt
Devey, Bella MF 2007 5'7" 04/23/2007 No 2024 CU17WC-Alt
Ring, Kennedy MF 2007 5'9" No
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Ajeto, Ryder FW 2007 5'7" 02/11/2007 No
Knapp, Tessa FW 2007 5'7" 03/28/2007 No
Maxwell, Kylie FW 2007 No
McLanahan, Rylee FW 2007 5'5" 08/14/2007 No 2024 CU17WC
Oder, Avery FW 2007 5'4" 04/06/2007 No
Strawn, Sealey FW 2007 5'3" 10/01/2007 No
Key:
- P. = Listed Position
- YEAR = Birth Year
- HT. = Height
- D.O.B. = Date of Birth
- NEW = “Yes”, if first known camp; “No”, if listed on a published roster
- TOURNAMENT(S)= List of major tournament rosters a player has been named to (if any)
Sources: Heights and dates of births are generally taken from the 2024 USWNT Media Guide or a previous edition. O’Donnell’s height is from her Sporting CP profile (converted from meters). Some heights were taken from recruiting profiles. Matthews’s height was reported in the Houston Dash’s press release about her signing. Some heights may be out of date. (For example, the 2024 USWNT Media Guide lists Matthews’s as 6’0″.) For players without published dates of birth years, birth years were pulled from recruiting profiles or inferred from youth club team designations.
Roster Notes
Dual Nationals — At least two players on this roster have been involved with a senior national team of another federation. As mentioned in the news note on the signing of Zoe Matthews, she has trained with the Jamaica senior women’s national team. Defender Mariana Gomez competed for Guam’s senior WNT in 2023 (EAFF E-1 roster) and for their U-17 WNT in U-17 WWC qualifying earlier this year (roster release; Instagram post).
One of Two U-20 WWC High Schoolers — The USA’s roster for the 2024 U-20 WWC had two non-professionals who were not on NCAA teams: Goalkeeper Caroline Birkel and midfielder Addison Halpern. Birkel was not called in for this camp, while Halpern was called in. Halpern was the only field player to not play any minutes across the USA’s seven matches at the 2024 U-20 WWC.
U-20 WWC Alternates Called In — Two of the three alternates who trained with the U-20 USWYNT immediately ahead of the 2024 U-20 WWC were named to the roster for this camp: Defender Reese Klein and midfielder Neely Kerr, who was not originally named as an alternate. Kerr replaced Addison Halpern, who was added to the U-20 USWYNYT’s roster after Sam Courtwright suffered an ACL injury. The third alternate, Katie Shea Collins (South Carolina), has a 2005 birth year and is thus not eligible for the 2026 WWC.
No U-17 WWC Alternates Called In — The three alternates for the USA’s squad at the current U-17 WWC, defender Edra Bello, midfielder Riley Cross, and forward Carrie Helfrich, were not named to this roster. With the proximity of that pre-tournament training camp to this camp, they were likely given this camp off.
Other U-17 WWC Hopefuls — From the last U-17 camp before the U-17 WWC roster was announced, three players not named as alternates were called into this camp: Midfielder Sofia Atehortua plus forwards Ryder Ajeto and Avery Oder. Three other hopefuls were not called up for this camp: Defender Lexi Collins, midfielder Paige Thompson, and forward Mya Townes. Townes was curiously not named to the U-17 WWC after being a core member of the USA’s team that won the Concacaf Under-17 Women’s Championship earlier this year. Collins was a member of the USA’s squad that won the 2024 Concacaf Under-17 Women’s Championship.
Gatorade Players of the Year — Three players are state-level Gatorade High School Players of the Year for the 2023-24 season: Midfielder Bella Devey of Utah, forward Tessa Knapp of Ohio, and forward Rylee McLanahan of Oklahoma. (Gatorade POY website)
Additional Tournament Experience — Forward Rylee McLanahan was on the USA’s squad that won the 2024 Concacaf Under-17 Women’s Championship and scored a goal in that tournament (match recap). Midfielder Bella Devey was a named alternate for the same tournament.
Defender Kai Price also has Concacaf tournament experience, as she was on the USA’s 2022 Concacaf Under-15 Girls’ Championship squad. Midfielder Sofia Atehortua was named as an alternate for that tournament.
Defender Reese Klein was originally named to the USA’s roster for the 2023 Pan American Games, but had to withdraw due to injury. Two other players in this camp, defender Carrier Small and forward Miri O’Donnell were alternates for that tournament.
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