U-23 USWNT – Women's Soccer Express

Youth USWNTs: 2020 Calendar Update – Camps, Trips, and Tournaments

Updates:

05-Feb-2020: U-17 USWNT – Added details for CONCACAF Women’s Under-17 Championship
11-Feb-2020: U-23 USWNT – Added details for Portland Thorns Spring Invitational
17-Feb-2020: Minor updates/clarifications
02-Mar-2020: Added March U-15 USGNT camp entry
13-MAR-2020: U.S. SOCCER HAS CANCELLED MOST YNT CAMPS THROUGH THE END OF APRIL, DUE TO COVID-19 CONCERNS. (U.S. SOCCER)
- NO NEWS ABOUT THE CONCACAF WOMEN’S UNDER-17 CHAMPIONSHIP, WHICH IS SCHEDULED TO START ON APRIL 18TH IN MEXICO.

While U.S. Soccer’s dysfunctional website* does not often include much information about future youth team camps and/or matches, that is not the case with a number of other associations’ websites. In addition, youth USWNTs regular participate in annual friendly tournaments at the La Manga Club in Spain, which regularly publishes online its upcoming schedule of hosted matches.

*A subject for a future post. Or three…

So, after much browsing and searching…

…Here are some things that were news to me:

Confirmation that a USA team is scheduled to participate in the April U-23 WNT friendly tournament at La Manga Club in Spain.
News that the USA will be sending a GNT to the annual soccer tournament in Montaigu, France. The USA will be in a four-team U-16 GNT mini-tournament with France, Japan, and Norway.
A June U-15 USGNT camp or trip involving the U-15 GNTs of Germany and the Netherlands.
The host and dates of this year’s U-23 WNT Nordic Tournament: Norway, September 14th to the 22nd. (USA participation not confirmed.)
Also, the CONCACAF Women’s Under-20 Championship, which was originally scheduled to start on Saturday, February 15th, was quietly pushed back to February 22nd.

(Update 02-Feb-2020): Clarified the descriptions of the U-14 events.

In addition, a U-14 Girls identification regional mini-camp roster with dates for two more regional mini-camps plus a ~~normal~~ national U-14 USGNT identification camp was published on Thursday, which gives a good picture of what that age group is doing up through late May.

Continue reading “Youth USWNTs: 2020 Calendar Update – Camps, Trips, and Tournaments”

U-23 USWNT: Matt Potter Named Head Coach; B.J. Snow Leaves U.S. Soccer

On Thursday, January 9th, U.S. Soccer announced a pair of related staffing changes:

The hiring of former University of Oklahoma women’s soccer head coach Matt Potter as the new head coach of the Under-23 United States Women’s National Team, and
The departure of B.J. Snow, who most recently helmed the U-23 USWNT while also serving as the Director of Talent Identification for the USWNT.

These changes follow the recent hiring of Laura Harvey as the new head coach of the U-20 USWNT after December’s surprise departure of Mark Carr, coincidentally, for the vacancy created by Potter back in November (SoonerSports.com).

Continue reading “U-23 USWNT: Matt Potter Named Head Coach; B.J. Snow Leaves U.S. Soccer”

U-23 USWNT: 2019 Nordic Cup Summary

Updated 30-Sep-2019: U.S. Soccer has quietly published back-dated match reports for the U-23 USWNT’s Nordic Cup matches.

Between August 28th and September 2nd, the United States Under-23 Women’s National Team participated in the 2019 edition of the Nordic Cup, which was hosted by England. The roster of players featured mostly professional players, with UNC junior Emily Fox the only collegiate player. Youth team standout Sophia Smith (Stanford) was in the original roster, but had to be replaced due to a “minor quad injury” (Twitter). Also, NWSL-standout Kristen Hamilton was on the original roster, but was called up to the senior USWNT for its Victory Tour friendlies against Portugal.

Under coach B.J. Snow, who took over from Mark Carr earlier this year, the U-23 USWNT won its first two matches against Norway and England, then drew with Sweden. Jordan DiBiasi scored the game-winner against Norway and had a penalty kick equalizer against Sweden, while Imani Dorsey scored the game-winner against England. Goalkeeper Casey Murphy played all 270 minutes in the three games, only allowing one goal, which came in the final match, against Sweden.

Continue reading “U-23 USWNT: 2019 Nordic Cup Summary”

U-23 USWNT: Quick Recap of Their Trip to Norway

The United States Under-23 Women’s National Team recently finished a series of three friendlies in Norway, drawing 1:1 versus Sweden, winning 4:1 over Norway and losing 2:4 to Norway. In the second friendly versus Norway, which was played in cool and rainy conditions, the USA allowed four goals in fifteen minutes. Continue reading “U-23 USWNT: Quick Recap of Their Trip to Norway”

U-23 USWNT: Roster For Friendlies Versus Sweden’s and Norway’s U23 WNTs

Under-23 United States Women’s National Team head coach Randy Waldrum has called up seventeen players, plus one to be confirmed, for three friendlies with Sweden’s U-23 WNT and Norway’s U-23 WNT. These matches will be held in Norway from June 15th to the 19th. The roster includes several players who have been in senior USWNT camps, including already capped midfielder Christine Nairn, midfielder Ingrid Wells, forward Melissa Henderson, and goalkeeper Adrianna Franch. Also on the roster is Bayern Munich’s Sarah Hagen, who scored the game-winner in this year’s Women’s German Cup final against FFC Frankfurt. Continue reading “U-23 USWNT: Roster For Friendlies Versus Sweden’s and Norway’s U23 WNTs”

US Soccer To Make U-17 and U-20 WNT Head Coach Positions Full-Time

Somewhat out of the blue, US Soccer announced last weekend that the head coach positions for the two main youth women’s national teams, the Under-17s and the Under-20s will be full-time, starting after the two youth Women’s World Cups later this year.

Also, a “development coach” will be hired to focus “on enhancing the player development environment for young players” across the USA and to oversee the Under-15 Girls’ National Team program. In other words, this sounds as if the U-15 GNT head coach position will also be made a full-time job, but with broader duties.

Continue reading “US Soccer To Make U-17 and U-20 WNT Head Coach Positions Full-Time”

U-23 USWNT: May 2012 Camp Roster

On Monday, US Soccer released the roster of players who have been called into a camp at The Home Depot Center which will run from May 13th to the 20th. During the camp, the team will scrimmage twice versus the U-20 WNT, who will be in a concurrent camp as they prepare for the Under-20 Women’s World Cup, which starts in mid-August. Continue reading “U-23 USWNT: May 2012 Camp Roster”

U-23 USWNT: La Manga 2012 Playing Time

The USA’s Under-23 Women’s National Team competed in a mini-tournament at La Manga, Spain from February 26th to March 1st versus their U-23 cohorts from Sweden, England, and Norway. The USA defeated Sweden 2-0, lost to England 2-1, and defeated Norway 5-0. Goalkeeper Bianca Henninger was injured during the first-half of the opening match and did not play the rest of the tournament. Continue reading “U-23 USWNT: La Manga 2012 Playing Time”

U-23 USWNT: Brooks and Bywaters Score Versus Sweden

The U-23 USWNT came out ahead in a test match versus their Swedish cohorts, today, with Amber Brooks and Zakiya Bywaters each scoring a goal. The final scoreline was 2-0. Sweden’s football association has thankfully posted a full match report, which is available, here (in Swedish). Notably, goalkeeper Bianca Henninger was subbed out in the 29th minute, which must have been for some kind of injury. On her Twitter, there is this short tweet: “Crutches…not the business” (Sunday, 3:46pm Eastern). Waldrum has not yet commented about the apparent injury via his Twitter account. Continue reading “U-23 USWNT: Brooks and Bywaters Score Versus Sweden”

U-23 USWNT La Manga Roster with Notes

Last Sunday, the U-23 USWNT roster was announced for their three matches in La Manga, Spain (USSoccer.com). Here is that roster, with basic notes about the players, including some more specific info about their normal playing position(s), along with 2012 or 2011 WPS Draft information, if applicable. Continue reading “U-23 USWNT La Manga Roster with Notes”