Hayes Sends Shaw, Sentnor to USWNT U-23s for Development — SkimNews
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- Emma Hayes assigned Jaedyn Shaw and Ally Sentnor — who have a combined 50+ caps and 17 USWNT goals — to the U-23 squad for this window rather than the senior team preparing to face Spain twice.
- Ashley Sanchez earned her first USWNT call-up in two years after matching the NWSL single-season goals record with 20, filling the attacking room that Shaw and Sentnor's U-23 assignments opened up.
- Hayes will keep both squads at the Arthur M. Blank U.S. Soccer National Training Center in Georgia, where the U-23s face the Dominican Republic U-23s in two matches while the seniors train for Spain.
- Savy King is back with the U-23 squad for the first time since collapsing on the field, and Hayes noted Naomi Girma, Catarina Macario, Emily Sonnett, Olivia Moultrie, and Croix Bethune would be seniors if healthy.
- Jordyn Huitema was promoted from the U-23s to the senior side this window, but Hayes said it's 'pretty likely' she returns to the U-23s next camp — with form not the deciding factor.
- Hayes explicitly framed her timeline around 2028 and 2031, not just the 2027 World Cup in Brazil, saying she 'can't always park the development of the generation that will be there for tomorrow.'
Why it matters: For capped USWNT players, the calculus changes: development minutes outweigh a bench spot with the seniors, with Shaw and Sentnor's U-23 reassignment signaling that status alone no longer protects a roster place. With both squads training at the same Georgia facility and the U-23s playing actual matches, Hayes has built a merit-based pipeline where in-form players like Sanchez — who matched the NWSL record with 20 goals — can leapfrog established names. That reorders leverage toward current production rather than prior selection.
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