For the fourth time in the past year, Wauwatosa's Aryssa Mahrt is headed to California for a U.S. national team training camp.
The FC Wisconsin Eclipse forward is one of 24 players called into an Under-16 girls national team camp by coach Jaime Frias. The week-long camp starts Monday at at the Chula Vista Elite Athlete Training Center in San Diego.
Mahrt participated in four Under-14 national team events last year, and also was part of a strikers and goalkeepers camp in December. All but one player in the upcoming camp were born in 2002, and all players are eligible for the 2018 Under-17 Women's World Cup.
- Midfielder Rose Lavelle (UW) is one of six uncapped players among the 29 players selected for a 10-day U.S. women's national team camp that starts Friday in Carson, Calif. Coach Jill Ellis' team is preparing for the SheBelieves Cup in early March – the second annual tournament features four of the top five teams in the latest FIFA rankings, with No. 2 Germany, No. 3 France and No. 5 England joining the top-ranked Americans. On Twitter: @roselavelle
- Midfielder Morgan Proffitt (Marquette) has been part of the U.S. Under-23 women's national team camp in Carson, which kicked off Friday. The wide-ranging, 30-player roster for the week-long camp includes players from seven birth years (1994 to 2000) and includes athletes from U.S. youth national teams, elite college players and four National Women's Soccer League players. On Twitter: @MorganMorg09
- Toronto FC striker Tosaint Ricketts (UW-Green Bay) is among 28 players called in to a week-long Canadian national team camp that starts Thursday in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Interim coach Michael Findlay then will name an 18-man squad for an away friendly against Bermuda on Jan. 22 in Hamilton. Ricketts, 29, is sixth in Canadian history with 14 goals in his 53 caps. On Twitter: @TosaintRicketts
- Wira Wama (Maranatha Baptist) is on the provisional roster for Papua New Guinea's World Cup qualifiers March 20 and 28 against Tahiti. PNG is in Group B of the third round of Oceania third-round qualifying, and also will face the Solomon Islands twice. The group winner advances to the two-leg regional final, and the Oceania champion will play the fifth-place team from CONMEBOL (South America) for a berth in the 2018 World Cup in Russia. Wama, who was the National Soccer Coaches Association of America National Christian College Athletic Association Division II Player of the Year for Maranatha last fall, has two caps for PNG.
- Also in Oceania World Cup qualifying, University of Wisconsin defender Sam Brotherton and New Zealand lead Group A heading into a pair of games against Fiji in March. The All Whites defeated and drew with New Caledonia in November – Brotherton wasn't part of those matches, as he stayed with the Badgers for the Big Ten Conference tournament. New Zealand learned its opponents for next summer's FIFA Confederations Cup in Russia at the draw in November; they will play Russia on June 17, Mexico on June 21 and Portugal on June 24 in Group A.