San Jose Earthquakes Girls’ Academy midfielder Sophie Jones has been called up to the U.S. U-17 Women’s National Team for their January training camp in Bradenton, Fla., taking place between Jan. 10-19. Jones is one of 24 players called up by U.S. head coach Mark Carr for the camp.
The camp will feature two international matches against up-and-coming Venezuela on Jan. 15 at Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, Fla., and Jan. 18 at IMG Academy in Bradenton. Both matches will kick off at 12:30 p.m. PT and are open to the public with free admission.
Both the USA and Venezuela are preparing for qualifying tournaments for the 2018 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup in Uruguay. The USA will participate in the 2018 CONCACAF Women’s Under-17 Championship, to be held in Nicaragua from April 19-29. The tournament will qualify three teams to the 2018 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup. Venezuela will participate in the 2018 South American Under-17 Women's Football Championship, to be staged early this year in Argentina.
Venezuela has found recent success at the U-17 level, advancing to the semifinals of the last two U-17 Women’s World Cups, taking fourth place in both 2016 in Jordan and in 2014 in Costa Rica.
The roster consists of 20 players born in 2001 – the age cut off year for the 2018 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup – and four born in 2002. Twenty of the players come from U.S. Soccer Girls’ Development Academy clubs.
U.S. U-17 Women’s National Team Roster by Position:
GOALKEEPERS (3): Angelina Anderson (Mustang Soccer Club; Danville, Calif.), Hailey Coll (Portland Thorns FC; Eugene, Ore.), Lindsey Romig (IMG Academy; Midlothian, Va.)
DEFENDERS (6): Tori Hansen (NC Courage; Raleigh, N.C.), Smith Hunter (Seattle Reign Academy; Seattle, Wash.), Makenna Morris (Bethesda SC; Germantown, Md.), Natalia Staude (NTH Tophat; Atlanta, Ga.), Kennedy Wesley (So Cal Blues Soccer Club; Rossmoor, Calif.), Kate Wiesner (LAFC Slammers; Monrovia, Calif.)
MIDFIELDERS (9): Hannah Bebar (Eclipse Select Soccer Club; Naperville, Ill.), Croix Bethune (Concorde Fire; Alpharetta, Ga.), Talia DellaPeruta (NTH Tophat; Cumming, Ga.), Maya Doms (Davis Legacy; Davis, Calif.), Jaelyn Eisenhart (LAFC Slammers/Las Vegas, Nevada), Mia Fishel (San Diego Surf; San Diego, Calif.), Sophia Jones (San Jose Earthquakes; Menlo Park, Calif.), MacKenzee Vance (United Soccer Alliance; Bluffton, S.C.), Astrid Wheeler (Concorde Fire; Atlanta, Ga.)
FORWARDS (6): Jordan Canniff (Washington Spirit Academy - Baltimore Armour; California, Md.), Isabella D'Aquila (So Cal Blues Soccer Club; Mission Viejo, Calif), Sunshine Fontes (Hawaii Rush; Wahiawa, Hawaii), Payton Linnehan (FC Stars; Douglas, Mass.), Samantha Meza (Solar Soccer Club; Dallas, Texas), Kalyssa Van Zanten (Eclipse Select Soccer Club; Buffalo Grove, Ill.)
