Emma Hayes named her 24-player roster for the U.S. women’s national team Futures Camp this week, providing another glimpse into her long-term strategy for the program. The camp features players younger than 23 years old and will run parallel to the January camp for senior national team players next week in Carson, Calif.
“None of us know what the roster is going to look like in 2027 so I’m desperate to make sure that we’ve got more players that are in a better position that can help us compete for the highest level,” Hayes said on Tuesday after announcing the senior team roster.
The Futures Camp features 14 professional players from the NWSL and USL Super League as well as players who played in college last season. Nearly every player on the roster has experience with the national team at the youth level, and all are age-eligible for the under-23 women’s national team.
“It’s a significant jump from college to the pro game and an even bigger jump to the elite international level, but we will be patient with all these players as we understand the process and want to help all of them reach their maximum potential,” Hayes said in the announcement.
WNT rising 📈
The 2025 Futures camp roster joining us in LA:
— U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team (@USWNT) January 8, 2025
In her first full year in charge, Hayes is doing things her way. She said she envisions repeating the new camp format every January to create a more structured player pool.
“This is an exciting group of young players who have shown their talents on various levels in the United States and there were certainly others deserving of a call-up to this camp,” Hayes said. “To bring them all together to compete in our first Futures Camp is an exciting step for the evolution of the U.S. Women’s National Team program and a great opportunity for them to show they have the qualities to play for the senior team.”
She emphasized the importance of developing players at the under-23 level, given that exposure to high-level competition is low compared to elsewhere in the world.
“When you consider how little programming some players have actually had, I almost feel like we’ve had a little bit of a lost generation that might not have had some of the exposures that some of the top nations (have had),” Hayes told reporters on Tuesday. “So, I’m desperate to look at ways to bridge that gap, because we can’t wholeheartedly just rely on domestic play to do that. We have to give international experiences to players.”
Hayes will lead the Futures Camp, jumping between their sessions and sessions with the senior team.
“I am going to be extremely busy, probably significantly more busy than every camp because I’m going to be coaching two teams. But like I said, I’ve got a great group of staff,” Hayes said. They “put together a program over 10 days that we know hasn’t been done this way before, but one that we expect to happen every January.”
Happening outside a FIFA international window, the January camp does not feature official matches or international friendlies but is a traditional part of the USWNT calendar.
When explaining why she is using the Futures Camp format, Hayes referenced the December international friendly against the Netherlands. While the US won, 2-1, the team had a nervy performance against the European giant.
“I was thinking about the number of times that (Daniëlle) van de Donk, Jill Roord and Jackie Groenen had played together from youth level upwards. Well, I’d expect them to boss a number of teams off of the pitch when you’ve got that cap accumulation, that experience together. So, I also have to be able to get players together, and they have to play consistently, which means that some might not get the experiences they want,” Hayes said.
“That’s why, for me, the under-23 program is significant, because I might be able to help develop some of those experiences to see what they’re like against international level and caliber at their own age, but, at the same time, have a core group of players that I know will be an integral part of our planning for 26, 27, 28.”
2025 Futures Camp roster
GOALKEEPERS (3): Jordan Brown (Georgia), Mia Justus (Utah Royals), Neeku Purcell (Brooklyn FC)
DEFENDERS (7): Jordyn Bugg (Seattle Reign FC), Heather Gilchrist (Florida State), Savy King (Bay FC), Emily Mason (Rutgers), Makenna Morris (Washington Spirit), Lilly Reale (NJ/NY Gotham FC), Gisele Thompson (Angel City FC)
MIDFIELDERS (6): Taylor Huff (Florida State), Claire Hutton (Kansas City Current), Riley Jackson (North Carolina Courage), Ainsley McCammon (Seattle Reign FC), Yuna McCormack (Florida State), Lexi Missimo (Texas)
FORWARDS (8): Michelle Cooper (Kansas City Current), Maddie Dahlien (UNC), Jordynn Dudley (Florida State), Kate Faasse (UNC), Jameese Joseph (Chicago Stars), Avery Patterson (Houston Dash), Pietra Tordin (Princeton), Reilyn Turner (Portland Thorns FC)
The Futures Camp squad inevitably skews heavily towards high-potential upstarts, but Hayes’ selections also include several players who are already regulars for their NWSL clubs. Here are three players to keep tabs on as we inch toward the 2025 NWSL season.
Makenna Morris (22 years old) — Washington Spirit
The Washington Spirit’s bounceback 2024 season relied heavily on rookies.
Rookie of the year Croix Bethune and teammate Hal Hershfelt took the spotlight on the Spirit, including call-ups to the USWNT Olympic roster, but Makenna Morris was a third crucial rookie performer — especially after Bethune’s season-ending knee injury. Morris overcame some injury woes herself. She made one appearance in March before missing three months with a hip injury, returning for two appearances before the Olympic break. From early September onward, she was a more regular presence after head coach Jonatan Giráldez arrived from FC Barcelona, and was frequently among the first players off the bench when she wasn’t earning starts.
Fortunately for Washington, she saved her best work for the season’s business end.
In the team’s semifinal win, Morris came on in the 67th minute, partnering with Hershfelt at the base of midfield after replacing a fourth Spirit rookie, Heather Stainbrook. She was asked to break a compact Gotham defense as Washington strove to claw back from a 1-0 deficit.
Throughout a 53-minute shift, her three most common pass connections showed a precocious instinct in the heart of midfield. First was the obvious recirculating backward to Hershfelt to ensure possession was retained. Second was a switch of play from just left of center to the right flank and teammate Lena Silano. Third was a low-risk, high-reward pipeline down the left flank into Trinity Rodman’s path — the exact kind of ball any tired defender will fear most.
Ultimately, it was a fourth type of distribution that made the difference. Morris took a set piece resembling a shallower corner kick, getting her arc inch-perfect to find Hershfelt towering over a Gotham defender.
At 22, her best role isn’t yet sorted. She played as a defender at Clemson and has alternatingly been referred to by the Spirit as a midfielder and a forward. As Yazmeen Ryan found in 2024, role versatility is invaluable to Hayes as she sizes up her player pool. Perhaps Morris can offer another multi-faceted option.
Claire Hutton (18 years old) — Kansas City Current
The USWNT’s defensive midfield hierarchy underwent some unsettled transition years following Julie Ertz’s head-turning heights in 2019. Andi Sullivan stepped up to earn starts at the 2023 World Cup, but it wasn’t until Sam Coffey broke through in 2024 that there was a surefire regular starter at the No. 6 spot. With Sullivan still recovering from a late-season ACL tear, Hershfelt and Korbin Albert also got looks at the base of midfield.
Another young alternative could be Claire Hutton, who will turn 19 before next week’s camp. The Bethlehem, N.Y. native signed with the Current in December 2023 after previously committing to the University of North Carolina. She proved this wasn’t just a play for the future, almost immediately earning a starting role under former USWNT manager and current KC coach Vlatko Andonovski.
She started 21 of the Current’s 28 matches including both of the team’s playoff games.
True tackles more accurately account for a player’s defensive challenges by combining raw tackle data with instances when a defender is either shaken by the ball-handler or commits a foul in the process. Not only was she among the most proactive midfielders in making challenges, but she was among the league’s most successful aggressors. She was also proactive in cutting passing lanes, and tough to get past.
She couldn’t have made a stronger first impression by doing the more thankless midfield work impeccably well.
Savy King (19 years old) — Bay FC
King was drafted second overall by Bay FC in 2024 out of UNC and was a regular starter from mid-March before waning into a rotational role by autumn. However, King has been on the prospect shortlist for some time. Left back is perennially an area of shallow depth for most national teams, doubling the scarcity of top-level defenders with the genetic rarity of being left-foot dominant.
King has been a regular starter with the United States under-17 and under-20 teams, playing nearly every minute of the 2024 U-20 World Cup. The U.S. finished 3rd, its best showing in the tournament since 2012.
King logged 1,109 minutes as a rookie, starting in 12 of her 18 appearances. King directed 51.7% of her passes forward, the fourth-highest rate of 64 defenders who logged at least 900 minutes. That proactiveness to advance the ball quickly is vital to combat a high press, a tactic opponents are becoming increasingly comfortable with utilizing against the USWNT.
Jenna Nighswonger and Crystal Dunn had fine years at left back in 2024, but King is worth monitoring between now and 2027.
This article originally appeared in The Athletic.
US Women’s national team, Soccer, NWSL, International Football
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