USWNT camp moved to Florida due to L.A. fires

The United States women’s national team’s January training camp has been relocated to Florida due to the Los Angeles wildfires, U.S. Soccer said on Friday.

The training camp, and the concurrent Future Camp featuring 24 USWNT prospects, will begin three days later than planned and run between Jan. 17-23 at Inter Miami’s Florida Blue Training Center in Ft. Lauderdale, FL.

The camps were set to start next Tuesday at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California.

“The safety of our players and staff is always our top priority, and with the fires still burning, many areas in a state of emergency, and the air quality next week an unknown, we made the decision to move the camps,” U.S. Soccer Sporting Director Matt Crocker said in a statement.

“Our hearts go out to all those affected in Southern California and our sincere gratitude goes to all the first responders and volunteers helping to navigate this tragedy. We also want to thank Inter Miami for accommodating us on such short notice and enabling us to run two training camps in a world class facility.”

The U.S. men’s national team is also training at Miami’s base in preparation for its match against Venezuela at Chase Stadium on Jan. 18, but the women’s team will begin their camp as Mauricio Pochettino’s side finish their stint at the facility.

USWNT coach Emma Hayes is using the January camp with the view of evaluating talent ahead of the 2027 World Cup in Brazil and the L.A. Olympics in 2028.

“None of us know what the roster is going to look like in 2027 so I’m desperate to make sure that we’ve got more players that are in a better position that can help us compete for the highest level,” Hayes told reporters on Wednesday.