Over the past year, a steady stream of the best American female pro players abroad have returned to domestic shores, in an aim to booster the fledgling National Women’s Soccer League.

The main thrust behind the return of players like Amber Brooks, Melissa Henderson and Christen Press – to name just a few examples – is an effort to stay on the radar of the U.S. Women’s National Team, as the buildup for the 2015 Women’s World Cup ramps up to qualifying, and then the tournament itself.

For recently graduated Wake Forest and U.S. youth star Katie Stengel, an opportunity to join Bayern Munich in the Frauen Bundesliga in July was the right move to make.

“I’ve always wanted to go play overseas just to get the experience over there and learn from a different international style,” Stengel told TopDrawerSoccer.com. “I saw Amber Brooks and Sarah Hagen had a lot of success over there, and I had always thought a lot about Germany, and then when the offer came up it was perfect.”

Like many other top female players of her age, Stengel has plenty of ambition to play domestically one day. But along with the chance to learn and develop in a foreign country, be challenged by different styles and players, the schedule of playing abroad allotted her the chance to finish up her degree at Wake in May before embarking on a pro career.

A lot of the players who are drafted and jump into the NWSL in January forego a final semester of college, a risk when considering the low salary and almost zero job security the league offers rookies.

Stengel, who was called into camp with the USWNT and U.S. U23s in 2014, is both anxious and thrilled about the upcoming challenge.

“I’m nervous about going over there, it’s going to be different because I’m going to have to learn a whole new language, whole new style of play,” she said. “But I’m very excited to go over there and learn from all kinds of different players, because they have all different ages, all different experience levels so it’s going to be interesting to learn and grow from that point.”

Her move to Bayern comes on the back of a sensational college career, one that ended on a difficult note last fall. After posting 50 goals and 25 assists in four seasons for the Demon Deacons, Stengel’s 2013 campaign ended after just 12 games when she was diagnosed with deep vein thrombosis. She said that she’s fully healthy, with the injury issues in the rearview mirror.

The three-time All American also won the U20 World Cup in 2012, and is a package of pace and power that could end up contributing to the full U.S. team one day. During the 2012 competition, Stengel had the chance to play against Germany twice, including the U20 World Cup final, and she recalled a team being extremely difficult to play against.

MORE: Top returning attacks | Top 10 women's GKs | Top 10 mids | Top 10 defenders | Top 10 forwards

“They were the hardest team we faced by far, so I definitely like their style of play and wished we played more like that,” she said.

When it comes to the national team and landing on the radar of the U.S. coaching staff, Stengel is optimistic that the move will challenge her as a player and a person, and by virtue of that improvement, her stock with the USWNT will only continue to improve.

“This move to Germany is going to help me a lot because I think I’ll develop as a player a lot more and I think that will set me up to get back in with the full team,” she said. “In the meantime, I’m in camp right now with the 23s and it’s always a good experience to play against some of the top domestic players over here. Really getting out of my comfort zone over there and learning to play with all these players in a new environment I think will definitely help me in the international stage moving forward with the full team.”

Americans at Bayern aren’t rare. Amber Brooks, a former North Carolina standout recently returned to the NWSL after a stint there, as did Sarah Hagen. U.S. defender Gina Lewandowski remains on the roster. Stengel said she didn’t have the chance to talk to Hagen or Brooks, but caught up with Erika Tymrak about her time there during a previous camp with the U.S. U23s.

The Florida native hasn’t set too many goals for what she’d like to achieve abroad, but is hoping to jump right in this summer and take the next step in her development as a player.

“I want to go in, I was expecting to go in, middle of the pack, not one of the best [players], not one of the weakest, learn technically and tactically and come out of there as one of the top players,” she said. “I’m hoping to lead them to Champions League, top three in the league.”

Photo credit: Wake Forest Athletics; ussoccer.com