United States women’s national team coach Vlatko Andonovski has his sights set on the future, filling the roster for the SheBelieves Cup with young players and budding talents. Eleven of the 23 players who will take the field when the U.S. opens the tournament against the Czech Republic on Thursday night have 10 caps or fewer.

The coach is intent on giving opportunities to players with the potential to make the USWNT’s World Cup qualifying roster this summer.

“This a group we want to see more of in camp,” Andonovski said. “We want to give them a chance to be in our system and we want to give ourselves a chance to evaluate them, not just in camp but also in camp with games.”

Andonovski will have much to evaluate in the attacking third, in particular. Ashley Hatch, 26, started to make her case in Australia in November when she scored two goals in two games against the Matildas. She buried the first one just 24 seconds into the USWNT’s opening match, making it the third-fastest goal in team history. At the SheBelieves Cup, 26-year-old Midge Purce and 21-year-old Sophia Smith will also look to prove themselves up top.

“It really challenges you,” veteran midfielder Andi Sullivan said of Andonovski’s decision to bring in young talent. “I think he’s just been consistent in what he’s looking for from people here, people in the league, and I think just constantly raising the level no matter where you are and who you are, and that there’s always an opportunity.”

I N C O M I N G 💥

First game of 2022 coming up quick! pic.twitter.com/zBnkU6F9pP

— U.S. Soccer WNT (@USWNT) February 16, 2022

While Andonovski originally left the three most inexperienced players — Trinity Rodman, Jaelin Howell and Naomi Girma — off of the roster following January camp, he added Rodman and Howell after veterans Lindsey Horan and Abby Dahlkemper were ruled out due to injuries.

It’s been clear that Andonovski values NWSL performances. Look no further than the fact that seven players on the USWNT’s SheBelieves Cup roster come from the reigning champion Washington Spirit.

The roster’s readiness

Andonovski said Wednesday that, while most players are not ready to play all three 90-minute games of the round-robin tournament, Catarina Macario is in peak shape. The sole member of the team not in the NWSL, Macario is deep into her season with Lyon, while her U.S. teammates started their preseason just two weeks ago.

“It’s very obvious when you see her on the field, when you see her in training, that she just looks a little bit sharper with things that I’m pretty sure all the players are going to get once we get more training,” Andonovski said.

It wouldn’t be surprising to see the coach play Macario in the midfield in all three games to set a high bar and maintain a consistent game flow.

On-field relationships

One of the USWNT’s main goals with the SheBelieves Cup is to strengthen the relationships among players on the field.

A few pairings Andonovski mentioned are Tierna Davidson and Alana Cook in the back, Macario and Rose Lavelle in the midfield, and Sophia Smith and Mallory Pugh up top.

“These are players we believe need to spend time together so they can strengthen their relationships that we’ve seen in training, that make us believe if these relationships get stronger or they get to know each other better, that we’ll be more than successful with this team,” he said.

Camp environment

With so many new faces on the roster, it’s fair to wonder whether practices have been as competitive without as many veterans to set the tone. Becky Sauerbrunn and Kelley O’Hara are the USWNT’s highest-capped players in the SheBelieves Cup.

It may take longer for the chemistry to build, but overall, the players say it’s been business as usual.

“I think the really special thing about this team is all the personalities and the history, and that they’re all interwoven together,” Sullivan said. “So I think the standard for this team is so high no matter what, and that’s due to the culture that’s been built for decades, so I feel like there’s not a lot that’s different.”

always getting after it 😤 pic.twitter.com/qrghPk012d

— U.S. Soccer WNT (@USWNT) February 15, 2022

Three names to note

Of the 11 young players on the team, the one to watch for in this tournament is Trinity Rodman. Along with Spirit teammate Aubrey Kingsbury, Rodman has yet to earn her first USWNT cap after declining an invitation to Australia in November. After a standout 2021 NWSL campaign, in which she won a championship with the Spirit and Rookie of the Year, the 19-year-old will finally get a chance to prove herself in an international game setting.

With 87 caps, two-time FIFA World Cup champion Morgan Gautrat is appearing on her first game roster since November 2019 against Costa Rica, Andonovski’s second game as head coach. The center midfielder played a key role in the Chicago Red Stars’ run to the NWSL finals last season, starting all 24 games in which she appeared. There is much at stake as Gautrat makes her long-awaited return to the national team and uses the opportunity to make her case for a spot on the 2023 World Cup roster.

Kelley O’Hara is a veteran leader on the team who’s stuck around despite the recent influx of young national team prospects. On both the USWNT and the Spirit, O’Hara is known for being fiercely competitive, setting the bar high, speaking her mind and expecting nothing less than the best from her teammates. The defender’s energy will be critical to the team’s success this week.

Schedule

Joining the U.S. in the tournament are the Czech Republic, New Zealand and Iceland, squads Andonovski called “very, very good, quality teams.”

The U.S. will need to tap into another level of sophistication in order to break down their opponents’ defenses, since all three of these teams are very organized when they don’t have possession. If successful, the U.S. will be in line to win its third consecutive SheBelieves Cup title.

USWNT vs. Czech Republic
Thursday, 11 p.m. ET
ESPN, TUDN

USWNT vs. New Zealand
Sunday, 3 p.m. ET
ABC, PrendeTV

USWNT vs. Iceland
Wednesday, 9 p.m. ET
ESPN, PrendeTV

Jessa Braun is a contributing writer at Just Women’s Sports covering the NWSL and USWNT. Follow her on Twitter @jessabraun.

More NWSL stars are jumping ship, as both the San Diego Wave and North Carolina Courage saw respective key players Delphine Cascarino and Denise O'Sullivan sign with WSL clubs over the last few days.

Former Wave forward Cascarino inked a deal through the 2029/30 season with the London City Lionesses on Monday, one day after San Diego announced they had mutually parted ways with the French international despite her contract running through 2026 with an option for the 2027 NWSL season.

"I'm really happy to be here," said the 28-year-old in a statement. "London City is the only independent women's club in the WSL, which excites me."

North Carolina midfielder and captain O'Sullivan made a similar move on Saturday, as the Ireland international signed with Liverpool following more than eight seasons and a club-record 186 appearances for the Courage.

The last-place WSL team reportedly shelled out a club-record transfer fee of approximately £300,000 to roster the 31-year-old two-time NWSL champion and three-time Shield-winner, who called Liverpool "a new challenge" that will see her "only a 40-minute flight away" from her family in Cork, Ireland.

Though the NWSL departures of Cascarino and O'Sullivan mark a kind of homecoming for the European standouts, they are just the latest to exit the US league, after USWNT star Sam Coffey joined WSL-leaders Manchester City last week.

"England — for men and women — is the country of football," noted Cascarino. "It's always been a goal of mine to play in this league."

New York Sirens forward Taylor Girard made PWHL history this week, earning a record four-game suspension for leaving the bench to join a line skirmish at the end of Sunday's 2-1 win over the Montréal Victoire.

The brawl occurred at the the final buzzer of the PWHL's record-breaking Takeover Tour stop in Washington, DC, with eight players — four Sirens and four from the Victoire — subsequently issued 10-minute misconducts in addition to Girard's infraction.

As the sole player not originally on the ice to join the skirmish, Girard was the only player to receive an additional 20-minute charge.

Even more, Girard's actions immediately triggered a four-game suspension, as the PWHL Rulebook dictates that exact punishment for "the first player to leave the players' bench illegally during an altercation or for the purpose of starting an altercation from either or both Teams."

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The four-game ban marks the longest punishment in PWHL history, doubling the two-game suspension that Seattle Torrent defender Aneta Tejralová received for an illegal check to the head last month.

With the PWHL on break after January 28th as 30% of the league's rosters compete in the 2026 Winter Olympics, the four-game suspension means that Girard — who sits second on New York's scoring sheet with five goals on the season — will not be available for the No. 2 Sirens until March 5th.

The WTGL is stocking up on golf stars, as TMRW Sports' newly announced offseason league begins to build its debut roster in partnership with the LPGA.

World No. 1 golfer Jeeno Thitikul (Thailand) signed on to participate in WTGL's inaugural season this week, alongside No. 5 Charley Hull (England), No. 6 Lydia Ko (New Zealand), No. 25 Brooke Henderson (Canada), and No. 79 Lexi Thompson (USA).

"WTGL will be a global stage to showcase LPGA stars, and this first wave of committed players represents that opportunity with some of the world's best," said TMRW Sports founder and CEO Mike McCarley in Monday's press release.

Set to launch next winter, the WTGL looks to build off the popular, second-year men's Tomorrow's Golf League (TGL), with the competition integrating both a physical and virtual golf environment inside Palm Beach Gardens at Florida's SoFi Center.

"These players will thrive in WTGL's competitive environment as fans will witness their skill and connect more deeply with their personalities through the unprecedented access the league delivers," said McCarley, noting that TGL golfers remain mic'd up throughout the team event.

The WTGL is also earning stamps of approval from several women's sports greats, as the Alex Morgan co-founded Trybe Ventures — an investment group that includes Morgan's fellow former USWNT stars Mia Hamm and Abby Wambach — became the new league's lead capital partner last week.

The WSL is cashing in on the women's game, with two UK clubs surpassing €25 million in annual revenue for the first time, according to the Deloitte Football Money League report on the 2024/25 season that dropped this week.

Reigning UWCL champions Arsenal topped the list for the first time after taking in €25.6 million last season, followed closely by WSL title-holders Chelsea FC's €25.4 million.

Meanwhile, Perennial European contender FC Barcelona (€22 million) dropped to third after leading the group in 2023/24, outpacing WSL titans No. 4 Manchester City (€12.9 million) and No. 5 Manchester United (€12.8 million).

Due to a lack of revenue data, the yearly study did not include major women's leagues in the US, Sweden, or Australia, giving the rankings a European bent as the total sum crossed the €150 million mark for the first time — a 35% increase over the previous season's Top-15 Money League clubs.

Commercial income was the biggest revenue driver for many top clubs, with sponsorship deals and brand partnerships leading the charge.

Arsenal also benefitted from increased revenue on the men's side, allowing the women's team to up its investment while avoiding running at a loss.

How to watch the top Deloitte Football Money League clubs in action

Deloitte Football Money League leader Arsenal will take on No. 5 Man United while revenue runners-up Chelsea will face the WSL-leading Man City in the 2025/26 Women's League Cup semifinals on Wednesday.

The concurrent clashes will kick off at 2 PM ET, streaming live on YouTube.