STANFORD, Calif. – Forty-two players, including Stanford goalkeeper Caroline Birkel, have been called up to a first-of-its-kind Women’s College Talent ID Camp. The camp will take place from June 18-22 in Atlanta, home of the new Arthur M. Blank U.S. Soccer National Training Center, which is slated to open in the spring of 2026.
The camp is part of the growing U.S. Youth National Teams’ scouting strategy with the objective of increasing programming opportunities for college-specific players with high potential and therefore expanding the U.S. Under-18, Under-19 and Under-20 Women’s National Team player pools.
All of the field players invited to this camp have limited prior programming with the U.S. Soccer’s Youth National Teams. The camp will be a collaboration between the Talent ID staff, the U.S. Youth National Teams’ head coaches and USWNT staff.
Birkel most recently wrapped up a stint earlier this month representing the U.S. at the 2025 Concacaf Women’s U-20 Championship in Costa Rica.
“The project initially arose from the January WNT Way meetings, where we held interactive workshops and brainstorming with all departments, to look at everything we do through a female-specific lens. When looking at player scouting through a female-specific lens, our Women’s Talent ID team recognized an opportunity to adapt our strategy to continue to expand our player pools in the older age groups,” said Nicole Lukic, U.S. Soccer’s Director of Talent ID for women and girls.
“With our programming increasing at U-18, U-19 and U-20 age groups, and our Talent ID department scaling, this was a good time to further develop our female-specific scouting strategy, dive deeper into our data and analysis of scouting pathways and create this unique camp opportunity,” said Lukic. “Even though an increasing number of players are going professional at younger ages, the college landscape is still an integral piece of the female-specific pathway in the United States.”
The camp will take place at McCurry Park in Atlanta with the 41 players selected from the 2005, 2006 and 2007 birth years, and one, goalkeeper Evan O’Steen, having been born in 2008. The five-day camp will consist of three training sessions and two intrasquad matches. The overall pool of 42 players will be divided into two teams for camp.
The camp will also incorporate a women’s goalkeeper-specific segment for an extended pool of goalkeepers from the same birth years with the aim of increasing the pool of goalkeepers who are exposed to a National Team experience. The focus will be on individual development in training sessions, led and supported by USWNT goalkeeper coach Stuart Searle and YNT GK coaches. The goalkeepers called up are a mix of players new to the YNT programs along with some who have extensive YNT experience, including the only non-college player in camp – O’Steen from Solar FC, who was the starter on the USA’s 2024 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup Team and who also trained with the Dallas Trinity this season in the USL Super League -- and Birkel, who played for the USA in the recently completed 2025 Concacaf U-20 Women’s Championship.
“Our scouting team has been following an expanded pool of players in the college landscape and have identified numerous talented players who we are excited to introduce to our pathway,” added Lukic. “I know all the National Team coaches and scouts are looking forward to working alongside each other throughout the camp to create a supportive and challenging environment with this pool of players.”
There are 28 different colleges represented on the roster and 11 colleges have multiple players called up, led by BYU and Michigan State with three players each.
U.S. Soccer Women’s College TID Camp
Training Camp Roster by Position (College; Hometown) – Atlanta, Ga.
Goalkeepers (10): Ariel Bernard (Western Illinois; Queen Creek, Ariz.), Caroline Birkel (Stanford; St. Louis, Mo.), Mateya Dessieux (Texas; Knoxville, Tenn.), Emily Edwards (Purdue; Holly Springs, N.C.), Sydney Fuller (Texas A&M; Keller, Texas), Olivia Geller (TCU; Southlake, Texas), Sarah Martin (Minnesota; Champlin, Minn.), Evan O'Steen (Solar SC; Grapevine, Texas), Keegan Smith (Arkansas; Bath, N.Y.), Adelyn Todd (Florida State; Denver, Colo.)
Defenders (12): Julia Belli (Michigan State; Dublin, Ohio), Maddie Costello (Clemson; Stony Brook, N.Y.), Zoe Cuneio (Purdue; Wildwood, Mo.), Amalia Dray (Boston College; Elmhurst, Ill.), Ellory Fife (Michigan; Ann Arbor, Mich.), Presley Freeman (BYU; Atlanta, Ga.), Raleigh Greason (Texas Tech; Arvada, Colo.), Millie Greer (Iowa; Scottsdale, Ariz.), Hannah Jordan (Penn State; Southlake, Texas), Faith Leyba (Colorado; Phoenix, Ariz.), Maleeya Martin (Michigan State; Leesburg, Va.), Abbi Sine (BYU; Coppell, Texas)
Midfielders (10): Shaela Bradley (UNC; La Center, Wash.), Morgan Brown (TCU; Wylie, Texas), Trinity Buchanan (Texas A&M; Henderson, Nev.), Anna Castenfelt (Clemson; Beaufort, S.C.), Lucy Kesler (BYU; Highland, Utah), Kiley Kukan (Alabama; Old Monroe, Mo.), Ava Priest (Colorado; Bowling Green, Ky.), Grace Shank (UCLA; McLean, Va.), Adia Symmonds (Mississippi State; Tampa, Fla.), Ava Verplancke (Baylor; Irvine, Calif.)
Forwards (10): Abby Ballek (Wisconsin; Timnath, Colo.), Jadin Bonham (Ohio State; Avon, Ohio), Jordan Geis (UCLA; San Jose, Calif.), Emily Graham (Michigan State; Fort Wayne, Ind.), Kunie Hirai (Utah State; Boise, Idaho), Wrianna Hudson (Florida State; Richardson, N.Y.), Zoe Main (Mississippi State; Missouri City, Texas), Austin Miller (Utah State; Logan, Utah), Kennedy Roesch (Northwestern; San Diego, Calif.), Anna Weir (Virginia Tech University; Acworth, Ga.)