It was a day of firsts for the U.S. Women’s National Team.
After five months of anticipation, the team finally arrived in Fayetteville, Ga., for its first training camp at the Arthur M. Blank U.S. Soccer National Training Center. Following a warm welcome from the U.S. Soccer staff as the players entered the building, the team held its opening training session on one of the 17 outdoor pitches at the state-of-the-art facility which opened in May of this year.
“The fields are what I’m probably the most excited about,” said USWNT captain Lindsey Heaps. “I feel like you can’t put a pass wrong on these. U.S. Soccer is just making a big push to make things incredible for us. I appreciate everything they did to put this together, and we're just excited to be here for the first time.”
While it’s the entire team’s first time at the new home of U.S. Soccer, it’s also the first USWNT camp for four players on the October roster. Head coach Emma Hayes named defender Evelyn Shores and forwards Trinity Byars and Pietra Tordin to the initial squad, while defender Kate Del Fava was recently added to the roster to replace the injured Naomi Girma.
Shores, who currently competes with Angel City FC in the NWSL, grew up in Atlanta and won three state championships with Westminster Schools. She spoke to the media on Tuesday about returning to her home state in her first USWNT call-up.
“It's such an amazing opportunity,” Shores said. “When I got the call up, I was just so excited, and then finding out that our first couple days were going to be at the new facility was just huge. I've always wanted to have a camp here, so it's just been a really cool opportunity to have the first time here with the WNT.”
The 21-year-old has been training with the U.S. Youth National Teams since the U-14 level and helped the USA to the title at the 2018 Concacaf U-15 Girls’ Championship. She has earned consistent call-ups to the U-23 WNT over the last year, most recently joining the squad in its June training camp.
“I think the last year-and-a-half with the U-23s has really propelled me to where I am today,” Shores said. “I think we have very similar tactics and presentations, so coming into the full team is just a good steppingstone in that way. Being a leader (with the U-23s) really translates coming into here, and I hope I can impact in the best way I can.”
The October roster also marked the first call-up for forward Ashley Sanchez since January of 2025. Sanchez, who has 28 caps and three international goals and was a member of the USA’s 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup Team, last played for the USWNT on Oct. 30, 2024, against Argentina.
Sanchez also has an extensive Youth National Team career; she captained the U.S. at the 2016 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup and played at both the 2016 and 2018 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup. In 2016, she was named U.S. Soccer Young Female Player of the Year. Sanchez explained that the National Training Center will play a key role in youth players moving up to the senior team.
"I think this new facility is amazing because it's going to be even easier for that transition,” Sanchez said. “We're going to have the 23s over here and us over here, and it's just going to grow the game even more. This is an awesome development program that we have going, and I think it's just going to continue to get better.”
Tuesday was also the first training session for the U-23 WNT at the National Training Center, where the team will play two matches against the Dominican Republic. The squad, which features eight players with senior team caps, took the field right next to the USWNT about halfway through their session.
Hayes, who is extremely involved in the women’s youth pathway, told the media how long she had been looking forward to this moment. Although her primary goal this week is preparing her squad for two highly anticipated matches against Spain, the reigning Women’s World Cup champion and top-ranked team in the world, she still has a focus on developing players and seeing the growth among the U-23 team.
“This is what we wanted from day one – a situation where we've got two elite groups, side by side, all competing to be on the senior squad,” Hayes said. “I'm going to have to keep educating the entire country about the importance of development, and that includes the players, because skipping steps are simply not an option. Proof of that is Evelyn Shores, Kate Del Fava, players who have been in that and are progressing into that.
“Being able to coach a session, then walk across and watch that session... this is exactly what I want,” Hayes added. “I'm very excited for the day because I'm in football heaven.”
"It feels like we're coming home" ❤️ https://t.co/GuRQj0wrSm
— U.S. Women's National Soccer Team (@USWNT) October 6, 2026