CHICAGO (May 22, 2024) – U.S. Women’s Deaf National Team head coach Amy Griffin has selected 18 players for the team’s friendly against Australia which will be the first game of a historic doubleheader with the U.S. Women’s National Team on Saturday, June 1 at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City, Colo.
Seventeen players from the squad that helped the USA claim the 2023 DIFA World Deaf Football Championship are on the roster for USA-Australia, presented by Volkswagen, live at 2 p.m. ET / noon MT. As part of the historic occasion, the match will be broadcast live in English on truTV and Max, and in Spanish via the Telemundo App, Telemundo YouTube, and network social media channels. In the day’s second game, the USWNT will face Korea Republic in head coach Emma Hayes’ managerial debut with the United States at 5 p.m. ET / 3 p.m. MT (TNT, truTV, Universo, Max and Peacock).
“We’re excited to reconvene and bring back a majority of the team that helped us win our third World Championship last year,” said U.S. Women’s Deaf National Team head coach Amy Griffin. “This group is inspirational and always continues to strive for more, so there is no better way to begin our preparation for this year’s Deaf Pan Am Games than the platform that comes with a national television broadcast to kick off a historic doubleheader with the U.S. Women’s National Team. We’re looking forward to being together again, and also giving more visibility to Deaf Soccer as we write another important chapter in the history of the U.S. Women’s Deaf National Team.”
Similar to the standard set by the USWNT internationally, the U.S. Deaf WNT has been remarkably dominant, going 37-0-1 and outscoring opponents 177-15 since beginning play in 2005. In that time, the team has claimed gold medals at the 2005, 2009, 2013 and 2022 Deaflympics and won the 2012, 2016 and 2023 World Deaf Football Championships.
Headlining the roster are the team’s three all-time appearance leaders in co-captains Kate Ward (Atlanta, Ga.; 30 caps) and Sydney Andrews (Wichita, Kan.; 27 caps), as well as U.S. Soccer’s 2023 Female Deaf Player of the Year Emily Spreeman (Fountain Valley, Calif.), whose 27 goals in 23 appearances also make her the Deaf WNT’s all-time leading scorer.
Joining the trio are two players with Colorado connections. Veteran defender Mia White (Littleton, Colo.) will meet up with the squad after a long flight from Finland where she competes professionally for FC KTP, while midfielder Holly Hunter (Temecula, Calif.) played her first two collegiate seasons at the University of Colorado before transferring to Northern Arizona University where she will play her senior season this fall.
As part of U.S. Soccer’s strategic initiative to develop winning teams, this month’s camp will serve as the initial preparation for the team ahead of its first appearance at the Deaf Pan American Games to be held Nov. 7-18 in Canoas, Brazil.
GOALKEEPER (1): 1-Taegan Frandsen*^ (Centerville, Utah; 8/0)
DEFENDERS (6): 11-Sydney Andrews*^ (Wichita, Kan.; 27/1), 15-Beth Barbiers*^ (Atlanta, Ga.; 3/0), 3-Paige Beaudry*^ (Riverview, Mich.; 11/0), 6-Mia McMurry* (Asheville, N.C.; 4/0), 17-Mia White*^ (Littleton, Colo.; 11/1), 18-Faith Wylie*^ (Decatur, Texas; 10/6)
MIDFIELDERS (8): 8-Erin Cembrale*^ (Oyster Bay, N.Y.; 10/5), 5-Gracie Fitzgerald*^ (Georgetown, Ind.; 17/4), 24-Holly Hunter (Temecula, Calif.; 5/5), 9-Ani Khachadourian*^ (Cary, N.C.; 9/7),16-Emma Neff* (Oakwood, Ohio; 5/1), 14-Paris Price*^ (Fall City, Wash.; 11/1), 7-Sabina Shysh* (Tucson, Ariz.; 1/0), 2-Kate Ward*^ (Atlanta, Ga.; 30/8)
FORWARDS (3): 12-Sophie Post*^ (Murry, Utah; 11/6), 20-Hannah Romero (Rialto, Calif.; 0/0), 10-Emily Spreeman*^ (Fountain Valley, Calif.; 23/27)
As part of U.S. Soccer’s mission to celebrate the game in all of its forms, the Deaf WNT’s match against Australia on June 1 will mark several historic firsts for the team as well as U.S. Soccer’s Extended National Teams program. Among them, it’s the first time an Extended National Team (ENT) will participate in a doubleheader with one of U.S. Soccer’s senior national teams, while the match broadcast on truTV, Max, and Telemundo digital platforms will mark the first time an ENT has played on television in a U.S. Soccer-controlled match, and Volkswagen’s title sponsorship of USA-Australia also marks the first time an ENT has had a presenting partner for one of its games.
Meanwhile, since the Deaf WNT’s 38 previous international matches have all been played in tournaments abroad, USA-Australia will also be the team’s first full-international on U.S. soil.
The Deaf WNT took its initial steps in 1999, when the first U.S. side won the St. John’s Tournament, a small-sided competition played in London, England. Two years later, the team was again victorious at 2001 De Hearne Kortrijk Indoor Tournament in Belgium. Those two competitions laid the groundwork for the modern U.S. Women’s Deaf National Team which began competing in 11-a-side competition at the 2005 Deaflympics in Melbourne, Australia.
The team is led by two world champions in head coach Amy Griffin and assistant coach Joy Fawcett. The pair helped the U.S. Women’s National Team take home the first FIFA Women’s World Cup in 1991, while Fawcett also represented the U.S. at the 1995, 1999 and 2003 tournaments, winning another World Cup in 1999. Fawcett also won gold medals with the USWNT at the 1996 and 2004 Summer Olympics.
Out of the five disciplines that make up U.S. Soccer’s ENT programming, Deaf Soccer holds the closest resemblance to the standard game, with only two main rules that differentiate it. First, the sport is contested by Deaf and hard-of-hearing athletes, with qualifying players needing to have a hearing loss of at least 55 decibels in their “better ear”. All players competing in Deaf matches must remove all hearing aids before playing.
Secondly, referees have a flag which they raise along with blowing their whistle to provide a visual cue for players to know when play has stopped. Aside from those two adaptations, Deaf Soccer follows the standard 11-a-side Laws of the Game governed by the International Football Association Board.
Founded in 1913, U.S. Soccer has been the official governing body of the sport in the United States for more than 100 years. As U.S. Soccer looks toward the future amid an unprecedented moment of opportunity, it has aligned its efforts around five strategic pillars: Grow the game by increasing youth and adult participation and accessibility to the sport; Foster best playing environments through quality of referees and coaches, and commitment to participant safety; Develop winning teams through solidified pathways and success of professional leagues; Grow the soccer economy to fuel reinvestment by increasing membership, fandom and commercial success; and Create a world-class organization through revitalized structure and culture, best-in-class talent, progress in DEIB, and more. For more information, visit ussoccer.com/ourvision.