The United States women’s national soccer team is back in action for the first time in 2022, with 26 players descending on Austin, Texas for January camp under head coach Vlatko Andonovski.

Among those called into the year’s first training camp running from Jan. 19-28 is goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher, who returns to the USWNT for the first time since exiting the Tokyo Olympics early with a knee injury.

After rehabbing over the last six months, Naeher is back in net and ready to get to work. Below, we evaluate Naeher’s status and other takeaways from USWNT camp since it opened last week.

‘I feel great, 100 percent, no restrictions’

Naeher is one of three goalkeepers participating in the January camp, joining Washington’s Aubrey Kingsbury (née Bledsoe) and North Carolina’s Casey Murphy. The USWNT keeper competition will be one to watch, as no clear heir apparent to Naeher has yet to emerge.

Murphy made a case for her place in the lineup with a stellar performance in the USWNT’s November friendlies against Australia, recording a shutout in her first cap with the senior team.

“They bring a high level to the training sessions,” Naeher said of Kingsbury and Murphy during a media call Monday. “It’s a competitive environment. We are all going to keep pushing each other.”

Naeher has made 78 appearances for the USWNT and recorded 44 clean sheets during her international career, most notably giving up just two goals during the team’s run to the 2019 World Cup title. As the starter in France, Naeher played every minute of every game.

Since leaving the USWNT’s semifinal game against Canada with the injury, she has had a long road back to the pitch, taking up swimming during her months-long rehabilitation process.

“The gym I was at, there’s a group, they’re all triathletes or former college swimmers … they were giving me tips along the way, and it’s cool it turned into its own little community,” Naeher said. “It was something fun to look forward to. It’s never easy to grind through a recovery of an injury.”

Grateful to be on the other side of her rehab, Naeher said she’s embracing and enjoying even the routine aspects of training sessions. In net, the 33-year-old Red Stars keeper has no restrictions but is working back into peak soccer shape.

“Now it’s just getting back up to speed, now it’s just cleaning back up the technical pieces,” she said. “I’m excited to get back in with the group to put my head down and just get back to work.”

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NWSL representation

Nine of 12 NWSL teams are represented on the USWNT’s January roster, including six players from the 2021 NWSL champion Washington Spirit: Kelley O’Hara, Emily Sonnett, Andi Sullivan, Ashley Sanchez, Rookie of the Year Trinity Rodman and Golden Boot winner Ashley Hatch.

“Being here with six other Spirit players is fun. I was super excited when I saw the roster,” Hatch said. “It’s like a little mini-reunion before we go back to season.”

The NWSL-heavy roster highlights Andonovski’s emphasis on club form and his propensity to recruit from the league.

Morgan Gautrat is a player who has seemingly benefited from that trend, earning her first USWNT call-up since November 2020 after an impressive campaign with the NWSL finalist Red Stars in 2021. Chicago teammate Naeher said Gautrat, 28, fought to get back in the national team mix, calling the midfielder “the epitome of a team player.”

“I thought she had a phenomenal year with Chicago last year,” Naeher said. “It felt like she was back to probably the best I’ve seen her in a couple years, and she 100 percent earned and deserved the opportunity to come back in.”

With NWSL preseason set to begin Feb. 1 (unless the absence of a CBA leads to a players strike), many players view the camp as an opportunity to get into competition shape.

“I think anytime you can get touches on the ball, especially in an environment like this, it’s probably the most intense environment you can put yourself in,” O’Hara said. “It’s nice to be able to be here and be getting ready for 2022, and I think everybody here is going to go into preseason for NWSL probably looking pretty sharp.”

Following a six-week preseason training period, the NWSL will host the third annual Challenge Cup beginning March 19.

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New players make a splash

The first USWNT camp of the year features a series of young players looking to make a strong first impression with Andonovski.

Thirteen players have ten USWNT caps or fewer, with Rodman, Kingsbury and San Diego’s Naomi Girma all still uncapped. While much of the roster is inexperienced on the international stage, many have competed at the club level, underscoring Andonovski’s ties to the NWSL.

“I feel like the newbies are maybe new to this environment, but they’re not new to the NWSL environment,” Hatch said. “And that’s also a competitive environment, so it may be new seeing them here, but it’s not new playing against them and with them.”

For those new to the USWNT, the 2022 kickoff camp provides them with an opportunity to compete and learn from seasoned leaders. O’Hara, who is the most capped player in camp with 148 international appearances, described the USWNT environment as all about “consistency and intensity and striving for excellence.”

“Be prepared be ready,” O’Hara said would be her advice to the new players. “You’re going to feel probably a little uncertain and feel like you’re out of your comfort zone.”

Two-time Mac Hermann trophy winner Jaelin Howell has welcomed the grind and competitive nature of camp.

“It’s awesome to be here and have this opportunity … [with] some of the other younger players getting our foot in the door and hopefully coming back more often and making a difference,” Howell said.

Following the January camp, Andonovski will name his 23-player roster for the SheBelieves Cup, which kicks off on Feb. 17 in Carson, Calif. and Frisco, Texas. The lineup he goes with will likely indicate the team’s direction heading into the 2022 Concacaf W Championship in July.

Clare Brennan is an associate editor at Just Women’s Sports.

Cameron Brink already has her rookie of the year pick for the upcoming WNBA season, and it’s Indiana-bound star Caitlin Clark. 

In the latest edition of Kelley on the Street, host Kelley O'Hara caught up with Brink in New York hours before the Stanford phenom went No. 2 overall to the Los Angeles Sparks at the 2024 WNBA Draft. When O’Hara asked who would win the WNBA's rookie of the year, she answered without pause.

"Caitlin Clark," she said, while a fan commented that she thought Brink would take home the award. Brink later added that the extra foul granted to WNBA players will be "good for me."

"I hope it’s me," Charisma Osborne, who was later drafted by the Phoenix Mercury, said when asked her ROY prediction. "But, I don’t know — we’ll see."

Watch more of Kelley on the Street:

Maria Sanchez issued a statement on Thursday, confirming recent reports that she has requested a trade from the Houston Dash. 

In it, she revealed that the club has been aware of the request "since late March."

"This has all taken a toll and isn’t an easy thing to talk about, but I want to confirm that I’ve requested an immediate trade," she wrote. "My expectations and reasons have been clear. I trust that my current club’s management will honor my decision in a timely manner and proceed with accepting a trade."

"I’m eager to refocus and dive back into what I love most: playing football," she concluded.

Thank you, everyone, for the outpouring of kindness and support. pic.twitter.com/gcnN7dhCJU

— Maria Sanchez (@Maria17_7) April 19, 2024

Reports of Sanchez's trade request first surfaced on ESPN last week, and were later confirmed by multiple sources. 

In December of last year, Sanchez signed a three-year contract with the Dash valued at $1.5 million including bonuses and an option year. It was the largest contract in NWSL history at the time — a figure that would be eclipsed by multiple contracts in the following months. 

Sanchez spent the offseason as a restricted free agent, meaning that Houston could match any other team's offer to retain her rights. Should the Dash trade Sanchez, her current contract terms would remain intact, limiting potential buyers to teams able to afford to take on an inking of that size.

The Dash has yet to address the trade, instead reiterating to ESPN that Sanchez is "under contract, a choice she made in free agency at the end of 2023." 

Both the NWSL trade window and transfer window close tonight, April 19th, at 12 a.m. ET. The window will stay closed through the next 11 regular season games, reopening on August 1st, 2024.

The four-time league champion Seattle Storm unveiled their new practice facility on Thursday, with Storm co-owner Lisa Brummel dubbing Interbay's Seattle Storm Center for Basketball Performance the team’s "new home."

"It's just such a special space," Brummel told Fox 13 Seattle. "I think when the players get here, it's gonna be overwhelming."

The sprawling 50,000-square-foot, $64 million property is just the second designated practice facility to be designed and built expressly for a WNBA team, with the Storm further noting that 85% of all design and engineering team members involved in the project's construction were women and people of color. The finished product holds two professional indoor courts, two 3x3 outdoor courts, a state-of-the-art locker room, and players' lounge, plus designated areas for strength and conditioning, kitchen, dining, and nutrition, and recovery. 

"This facility reflects our commitment to providing our athletes an exceptional environment that supports their growth, health, and performance," said Storm co-owner Ginny Gilder in an official team release. "It’s built for women, by women, embodying our dedication to leading the way in professional women’s sports."

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For their part, the team can't wait to make the faciilty their own.

"It's amazing," Storm guard Jewell Loyd told Fox 13. "Not having to drive everywhere around, knowing you have access anytime of the day to get into the gym, to workout." 

Head coach Noelle Quinn said she predicts the team is "never going to leave this building."

"Which is a good thing for me," she continued. "You talk about having an edge in performance. We want our athletes to not only perform on the court, but get whatever they need."

All of the Storm's staff and operations will now live under one roof, and the team also has plans to launch a youth basketball program operating out of the building.

The Caitlin Clark effect is quickly making its mark on the big leagues, as WNBA host teams around the country rush to upgrade their Fever games to larger arenas in order to accommodate surging ticket sales.

With Clark mere weeks away from her Indiana Fever debut, both the Las Vegas Aces and Washington Mystics have officially relocated their scheduled home games with head coach Christie Sides' squad. On Thursday, the Mystics became the latest to adjust their plans, moving their June 7th matchup from Entertainment & Sports Arena in Southwest DC to the more centrally located — and much larger — Capital One Arena "due to unprecedented demand."

The Mystics home court's capacity taps out at 4,200, while Capital One Arena — home to the Wizards, Capitals, and Georgetown Hoya's Men's Basketball — can fit nearly five times that crowd at some 20,000 spectators.

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"The move to Capital One Arena will allow for additional fans in the stands as well as premium hospitality options, including Suites and the all-new all-inclusive courtside Hennessy Lofts," the team announced via Thursday's press release.

The Aces were one of the first teams to switch venues, aiming to take on the Indiana Fever in front of as many as 20,000 fans inside T-Mobile Arena on July 2nd. That’s a sizable a boost from their home venue, which holds just 12,000.

For those still planning to face the Fever in their home arenas, ticket prices have skyrocketed. Previously scheduled construction has already forced the LA Sparks to relocate their first five games — including their May 24th clash with the Fever — to Long Beach State's Walter Pyramid. The temporary venue is quite the downsize, holding just 4,000 in comparison to Crypto.com Arena's near-19,000. As of Friday, the get-in price for that game started around $400.

Despite fans launching a Change.org petition urging relocation, the Chicago Sky say they're unable to move their June 23rd Fever meeting from Wintrust Arena's 10,000-seat facility to the 23,500-seat United Center due to a concert. Tickets for that game start around $325 as of Friday.