U.S. Women's team happy to make Austin part of regular stops
Photo credit: Zach Smith
Austin has very quickly claimed a spot on the U.S. Soccer rotation, and that shows no signs of slowing down.
The U.S. Women’s National Team arrived to Austin FC’s St. David’s Performance Center last Wednesday for its 10-day January Camp. Even if there aren’t any matches on the schedule during this training camp, the city has made an impression on U.S. Soccer and USWNT roster.
“I would not mind this being a regular stop on the rotation,” defender Kelley O'Hara said. I love Austin, I think it’s a super fun city. They’ve created a great, professional environment here. You can count on me putting in a vote for Austin.”
Q2 Stadium has been open for less than a year, and it’s already played host to plenty of international soccer.
The U.S. Women played the first-ever game at Q2 Stadium when they downed Nigeria 2-0 in June 2021.
The U.S. Men played a pair of games at Q2, beating Qatar in the Gold Cup Semifinal in July and Jamaica in a World Cup qualifier in October. Mexico and Chile played a friendly in Austin in December.
Austin FC didn’t see too much success on the field in its first season in 2021, but the off-field support was unmatched across MLS. There is a growing call amongst the fanbase for the National Women’s Soccer League to come to Austin, and it’s one of the players would support.
“Austin would be a great fit for the NWSL,” USWNT and Chicago Red Stars goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher said. “The facilities here are great. They’ve done a phenomenal job with the training grounds, locker rooms and weight rooms. I would love to see a women’s team here someday.”
On the field, USWNT head coach Vlatko Andonovski is using this camp in Austin to have more intense sessions and challenge some younger players. The team begins qualification for the 2023 Women’s World Cup and 2024 Olympics in Paris.
High-profile players like Alex Morgan, Megan Rapinoe and Christen Press (who scored the first-ever goal at Q2 Stadium) were not called into camp this month. Andonovski has instead decided to focus on youth.
Half of the 26-player roster has under 10 caps, and three players — Naomi Girma, Aubrey Kingsbury and Trinity Rodman — have yet to make a senior international appearance.
O’Hara is the most-capped player in the group with 148 International appearances.
“You have to bring your best every day,” O’Hara said. “It’s about starting here and staying here. This environment and this team require that focus day in and day out. It’s about consistency and intensity and striving for excellence.”
Naeher is with the USWNT for the first time since suffering an injury at the Tokyo Olympics last summer. She said she’s back to 100 percent and is using this camp to get back up to seed before USWNT plays in official games at the SheBelieves Cup in February.
“January camp is always that where it’s just a grind,” Naeher said. “My goal is to get back playing to the way I know I can. That’s going to take a little time getting up to speed. I’m excited to be healthy and I’m excited to be back in with the group.”