U.S. Power Soccer National Team Starts First Camp Under U.S. Soccer
Preparation for 2023 Powerchair Football World Cup in Australia Ramps Up with Five-Day Train-ing Camp in Rome, Ga., from Jan. 4-8 Under New Head Coach Tracy Mayer
CHICAGO (January 4, 2023) – The U.S. Power Soccer National Team will gather for the first time under the supervision of U.S. Soccer this week for a training camp in Rome, Ga. as the team prepares for October’s FIPFA Powerchair Football World Cup in Sydney, Australia.
New head coach Tracy Mayer has named a 12-player roster for the camp at the Darlington School in Rome that will run from Jan. 4-8. The team will train together for the first time on Jan. 5. Mayer was named head coach in October as Power Soccer transitioned to become an official U.S. National Team in 2022 as part of U.S. Soccer's Extended National Teams Department
The roster is led by World Cup-winning veterans Jordan Dickey, Natalie Russo and Peter Winslow. Russo helped the USA win the inaugural 2007 FIPFA World Cup in Toyko, Japan, while Dickey and Winslow were on the 2011 World Cup squad that repeated as champion in Paris, France.
Russo and Dickey, plus Rylie Johnson, Nathan Mayer, Peyton Sefick and Drew Cunningham were also on the USA’s 2017 World Cup team that took the silver medal, falling to France in the championship match of the third and most recent World Cup tournament in Kissimmee, Fla.
U.S. POWER SOCCER NATIONAL TEAM ROSTER – JANUARY TRAINING CAMP
GOALKEEPER (1): Nathan Mayer
WINGS (6): Andrew Chauppetta, Troy Chauppetta, Andrew Cunningham, Alexis Heer, Natalie Russo, Peyton Sefick
CENTERS (3): Jordan Dickey, Riley Johnson, David Dowling
STRIKERS (2): Peter Winslow, Zach Dickey
The USA qualified for the 2023 World Cup after winning the 2019 America’s Cup in Brazil. Dickey, Russo, Johnson and Mayer were part of that team.
Twins Andrew and Troy Chauppetta, Alexis Heer, David Dowling and Zach Dickey have yet to make their senior international debuts, although most have been part of the program for a number of years.
The U.S. Power Soccer National Team features male and female athletes with disabilities that include quadriplegia, multiple sclerosis, muscular dystrophy, and cerebral palsy, among others. The game is played in a gymnasium on a regulation basketball court with four players who attack, defend, and spin-kick a 13-inch soccer ball in a skilled and challenging game similar to mainstream soccer.
Power Soccer is the first competitive team sport developed specifically for power wheelchair users and has been played internationally since 2006. The USA is nine months away from October’s FIPFA Powerchair Football World Cup in Sydney. The competition was originally scheduled to be played in 2021, but was postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
For more information on the sport or to inquire about athlete eligibility, please contact U.S. Soccer's Extended National Teams Department via email at extendednt@ussoccer.org.