The United States women's national team will kick off the holidays with a set of friendlies against China in December, and the official training camp roster has been announced. It's the first player list under new head coach Emma Hayes, in collaboration with interim head coach Twila Kilgore and U.S. Soccer sporting director Matt Crocker. It's an early glimpse at the unique working circumstances around Hayes through Spring 2024, when she will officially join the team on the sidelines, at the conclusion of her club season with Chelsea FC.
"The collaboration process now begins, the process of change begins, led on a day-to-day basis by Twila, but obviously with the ability to tap into Emma's wealth of skills and experience across the game," Crocker said. "I'm really excited by the potential for change for the Olympics but also beyond, and we have to seize this moment."
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Hayes' new contract as USWNT manager will run through 2027 and includes a salary that mirrors USMNT coach Gregg Berhalter's $1.6 million per year. The Olympics are right around the corner, and with the short window of time ahead of the next major international tournament, Kilgore is staying on in an official capacity as an interim. She'll have a role on Hayes' staff as a full-time assistant in 2024, and the December roster selection was a process that included input from both coaches to create the group.
Kilgore said the roster formation was an effort of different phases with careful of communication.
"I need to be conscious and aware that Emma's in a full-time job that is very busy right now and it's one of the top club jobs in the world. I have the ability to reach out to her at any time, she'll make time for me at any point and vice versa," Kilgore told media on Monday.
"We are very collaborative. We're sharing information, knowledge sharing. In terms of the roster, you know, rosters start at different times. So there's a provisional roster that comes out first, which I prepared. I was able to share my ideas with Emma, Emma able to share her ideas with me and we picked this roster collaboratively and we will do so moving forward."
Kilgore also shared with the media that she'll have opportunities to go to London and spend time in person with Hayes. Crocker is hopeful that Hayes could spend some time over the holiday with the squad in Fort Lauderdale for the December window, though both Kilgore and Crocker are being careful with Hayes' current club commitments.
"It would be an ideal situation for her to come and meet the players and staff, and we're very hopeful that can happen," Crocker said.
"I will have opportunities to go to London and spend time with Emma in person and hopefully vice versa. So, things are off to a great start. We plan to do this together to the very best of our ability knowing that I will handle the day-to-day, but Emma's time is very limited, and I need to tap into that when it's most appropriate and allow for her to focus on what she's doing and me to focus on what I'm doing and make sure that we're set for it all to come together in the end," Kilgore said
Hayes' winning background and player reputation has USWNT fans excited at the prospect of less capped players in the mix and the possibility of new ideas being rolled out. Kilgore will lead the way on introducing any new items to the team slowly.
"I feel the freedom to make choices that we think are best moving forward for the team," Kilgore said on the possibility of new tactics during the December window.
"Some of those are tactical. We'll pick up where we left off in our last game [against Colombia], which I think was one of the team's best performances across a long period of time. So we'll look to pick up where we left off and start to integrate the next level of little tactic wrinkles that we've been applying. Obviously, that will be done with the view of trying to incorporate some of the things that we could foresee Emma wanting to apply moving forward."
Take a look at the USWNT roster for the two-game series against China:
USWNT roster (Club; Caps/Goals)
Goalkeepers (3): Jane Campbell (Houston Dash; 7), Aubrey Kingsbury (Washington Spirit; 1), Casey Murphy (North Carolina Courage; 16)
Defenders (7): Alana Cook (OL Reign; 29/1), Abby Dahlkemper (San Diego Wave FC; 79/0), Tierna Davidson (Chicago Red Stars; 50/1), Emily Fox (North Carolina Courage; 37/1), Naomi Girma (San Diego Wave FC; 24/0), Casey Krueger (Chicago Red Stars; 41/0), M.A. Vignola (Angel City FC; 1/0)
Midfielders (8): Korbin Albert (Paris Saint-Germain, FRA; 0/0), Sam Coffey (Portland Thorns FC; 5/0), Savannah DeMelo (Racing Louisville FC; 6/0), Lindsey Horan (Olympique Lyon, FRA; 137/30), Rose Lavelle (OL Reign; 91/24), Olivia Moultrie (Portland Thorns FC; 0/0), Jenna Nighswonger (NJ/NY Gotham FC; 0/0), Emily Sonnett (OL Reign; 81/2)
Forwards (8): Mia Fishel (Chelsea FC, ENG; 2/1), Ashley Hatch (Washington Spirit; 21/5), Midge Purce (NJ/NY Gotham FC; 24/4), Trinity Rodman (Washington Spirit; 26/6), Jaedyn Shaw (San Diego Wave FC; 2/1), Sophia Smith (Portland Thorns FC; 36/14), Alyssa Thompson (Angel City FC; 8/0), Lynn Williams (NJ/NY Gotham FC; 58/17)