The past year was a bit of a disappointment for the Girls Youth National Teams. The ongoing struggles at the U17 Women’s World Cup level continued with a group play exit in Jordan in this year’s edition. The U15s and U16s had successful campaigns, but the majority of eyeballs are firmly fixed on the results of the U17s. The losses to Ghana and Japan stung for quite some time after so much success prior to the tournament.
The ongoing theme for the Youth National Teams is how best to identify and develop players for the First Team. The judgement on that will not come for years as players slowly matriculate toward that point of their playing careers. For now, the past year for the U15, U16, and U17 National Team age groups featured an international championship and a disappointment on the global stage.
TopDrawerSoccer recaps the past 12 months for each Youth National Team below.
U.S. U15 Girls National Team
Record in 2016: 7-0
Head coach: Mark Carr
Year in review: USA won the 2016 U15 CONCACAF Championship with a dominant performance from the first game to the last game. The statistics do a pretty good job at telling the story. Zero goals conceded, 49 goals scored, and never really a doubt from the international tournament in Florida. At the youth level, the title from the U15 featured the most impressive performances at an international level in 2016. However, the USA has always been dominant in the youngest age groups because of a style of play that is more dependent on an advantage in athleticism. The U.S. is trying to change that approach with a heavier reliance on tactical nuance, and the U15s are part of the movement. The best players for this age group have already been pushed up the ladder inside the U.S.’s Youth National Team programming. The U.S. U17 Women’s National Team used four players from this age group during the 2016 U17 World Cup, which is a two-year jump for the quartet. The absence of four opens the door for some other players to shine and perhaps gives more opportunities to less physically dominant players in camps and games. USA, at the older age groups, is dependent upon developing and identifying smarter players through these age groups. Mark Carr, listed as the Development Coach in charge of this age group, has been tasked with identifying the brightest bulbs at the youngest age of programming for U.S. Soccer. Carr also had four camps in 2016 with this age group, as he prepares them for the 2018 World Cup cycle.
Players to watch: San Diego Surf’s Mia Fishel won the Golden Ball as the best player at the 2016 U15 CONCACAF Championship. Fishel finished the event with seven goals and seven assists. She looks to be a brilliant player with a bright future. She is lethal finisher, but also an impressive passer. The question for Fishel is how she will fit into the team when the pace of the game picks up and the USA tends to skip over the attacking midfielder. If Fishel (and her coach) can find the right role, she could be the real gem of this age group. Payton Linnehan and Gabrielle Robinson both scored eight goals during the CONCACAF Championship. Ruth Jones was the top goalkeeper of the event. Leah Scaarpelli looks to be one of the defenders to watch in this group.
