Six Gotham FC players invited to USWNT training camp

Gotham FC will once again be well represented at a U.S. Women’s National Team event.

Six Gotham players, including Crystal Dunn, have been invited to U.S. Soccer’s opening training camp in Southern California later this month, the sport’s governing body announced Tuesday.

Dunn will be joined by Tierna Davidson, Jenna Nighswonger, Emily Sonnett, Nealy Martin and Ella Stevens for the weeklong camp, which will run from Jan. 14-21.

The camp will mark the first call-ups for Martin and Stevens. It’ll also be Dunn’s first public soccer outing since the three-time Olympian missed the past few months of the NWSL season for what had been labeled as an “excused absence.”

There were a few notable players missing from the 26-player roster, including Gotham’s Rose Lavelle, who recently had ankle surgery. Lavelle’s recovery timeline was not immediately known.

The elite “Triple Espresso” front line of Trinity Rodman, Sophia Smith and Mallory Swanson, will also not be participating in the upcoming camp as they continue to deal with nagging injuries.

The trio also missed the NWSL’s pair of friendly European matches in late November and early December.

The U.S. Women’s National Team isn’t scheduled to play in any international matches during this time, which could be part of the reason why only 11 of the 22 players who won gold at the 2024 Paris Games this summer are participating.

With six uncapped players attending their first senior team training camp, U.S. Women’s National Team coach Emma Hayes welcomes the chance to develop and invest in young talent.

“We want to continue to foster an environment and culture on the National Team that is player-centric and female athlete-centric and helps the players maximize their abilities,” Hayes said in a statement. “Having positive, growth experiences with the USWNT will help them in their careers and help us build a deeper player pool. I’m really looking forward to getting on the field with these players and the players in the Futures Camp to get in a solid week of training with both groups without having to make adjustments for the impact that a match would have on our loading and training plan. I can’t wait.”

The U.S. Women’s camp will concurrently happen along with the Futures Camp, which includes 24 up-and-coming prospects.

That roster is set to be announced Wednesday.