‘The best route to the top’: How Emma Hayes uses this camp to develop the USWNT

Laken Litman

College Football & Soccer Analyst

For Emma Hayes, the objective hasn’t changed: the next two years are all about developing talent and expanding the player pool. That’s been the United States’ women’s national team manager’s directive for the better part of the past year, and it will remain that way for years to come.

Every camp Hayes speaks on this topic. It may seem repetitive, but it’s the consistency in her messaging that the USWNT hopes will turn into success at the next World Cup in 2027.

“We are to utilize this camp and the next camp as giving opportunities to players that have less experiences,” Hayes said Friday ahead of the USWNT’s match vs. China on May 31 at Allianz Field in St. Paul, Minnesota. They’ll face Jamaica on June 3 at Energizer Park in St. Louis to round out this window of friendlies.

Those “experiences” come in different ways. For some, it’s training with the senior team and being exposed to that specific environment. For others, it’s getting minutes with the U-23 team, which is currently overseas for a pair of games against Germany. Younger players like Korbin Albert and Jaedyn Shaw – both of whom were on the Americans’ gold medal-winning Olympic squad last summer – are working with that group right now. Mia Fishel, who has been coming back from injury, is as well. While they have played with the USWNT – Albert has 26 caps, Shaw has 28 and Fishel has three – Hayes believes having the opportunity for younger players to go back and forth between age groups will create a stronger development pathway to being on the senior team full-time.

“Sometimes I think we expect so much from them, and they’re still inexperienced players that maybe need a little bit more time in that age group category in the right moment,” Hayes said specifically of Korbin, 21, and Shaw, 20. “I think we need to remain patient with the squad. I’ve seen so much development, even in this camp.”

Jaedyn Shaw is among the capped USWNT youngsters currently with the senior squad ahead of a pair of friendlies. (Photo by Robin Alam/ISI Photos/Getty Images)

Hayes understands that she’s called in a group of players who are in different stages of their journey. Some are accustomed to the “ins and outs of what we’re looking for,” she said, while others are still figuring things out. The average age of this current USWNT roster is 25.4 years old with an average of 30.7 caps. However, that number is skewed by captain Lindsey Heaps, Crystal Dunn and Emily Sonnett, all of whom have more than 100 caps. There are 15 players who have 10 caps or fewer, and the three goalkeepers have a combined four. There are also two players who recently earned their first-ever call-ups.

“The only way you get that experience are these exposures, but we can’t expect a finished product from any of them,” Hayes said. “There’s no shortcut to it and you can’t accelerate it either. When you enter major tournaments, in an ideal world, each player has exposures of above 30 caps. And obviously that won’t always be everyone.

“So if you think about our situation in goal, we’ve got players that have got less than five caps and [other] players with less than five caps. So we have to invest in the next two years in trying to accelerate that, to reach what we call a threshold. And that’s why what we are doing is not only intentional, but necessary, because that gap from that real experienced group to this is something that hasn’t been developed prior to me being here. And with the [U-23] program and what we are doing gives us the opportunity to do that.”

Earlier this year, Hayes said that she’d like to identify a core group of players that will figure into her 2027 World Cup plans by June. The problem is that a portion of that foundation is unavailable for selection and will be for some time. For example: Mallory Swanson and Sophia Wilson are pregnant. Trinity Rodman is focused on getting her lingering back issues right. Tierna Davidson and Rose Lavelle are recovering from injuries, and there are a handful of other players who are not ready to be back with the team yet for various reasons.

“People often ask me, ‘Why isn’t this player [in camp]?’” Hayes said. “Well, a lot of the time they are unavailable. So it’s important not to get too drawn in on identifying 23 players. The pool has to be bigger because of injury, because of illness, because of pregnancy, because of whatever.

“My job is to develop a larger group of players that, by the time we reach tournament setting, have been given the right exposures to put ourselves in the best position possible. So I think we’re on track with that, and we also have the U-23 program.”

Lindsey Heaps and Crystal Dunn are among the veteran players in the USWNT squad for the two upcoming matches. (Photo by Elysia Su/ISI Photos/Getty Images)

Since Hayes joined U.S. Soccer one year ago, she’s been working closely with Tracey Kevins, the head of development for the youth national teams. Together, they identify “the best route to the top” for players, Hayes said.

“There’s been a lot of big work that’s been going on behind the scenes that will provide that platform for years to come,” Hayes said.

This includes everything from “leveling up” the U-23 program so that there’s more of an emphasis on development vs. sending young players to the senior team just to sit on the bench. Albert and Shaw getting valuable minutes vs. Germany this week is an example of that.

Then there’s the overall USWNT strategy that Hayes laid out at the start of 2025 called “The WNT Way.” This includes how the program is looking at everything through a female lens, which Hayes hopes will set a new blueprint for the game globally. The initiative is expansive and focuses on influencing areas such as coaching education and women’s health.

“I can’t believe I’ve only been here a year to be honest with you,” Hayes said. “If I’m to fast-forward to 2031 [when the U.S. hosts the World Cup] the work and the impact that everybody’s having now for the future of the game I think will leave the ecosystem, not in a healthy way because America has always produced players, but I think what we are putting together is a system that goes beyond just a pipeline of players. That it’s a support system around girls and women that I think will take our game up a notch.”

Laken Litman covers college football, college basketball and soccer for FOX Sports. She previously wrote for Sports Illustrated, USA Today and The Indianapolis Star. She is the author of “Strong Like a Woman,” published in spring 2022 to mark the 50th anniversary of Title IX. Follow her at @LakenLitman.