U.S. Power Soccer National Team Pre-World Cup Training Camp Continues
Preparation for 2023 Powerchair Football World Cup in Australia Continues in St. Paul, Minn., from July 12-17, with Head Coach Tracy Mayer Close to Finalizing Roster
CHICAGO (July 11, 2023) – The U.S. Power Soccer National Team will gather for the third time in 2023 for a training camp in St. Paul, Minn., as the team finalizes preparation for October’s FIPFA Powerchair Football World Cup in Sydney, Australia.
Head coach Tracy Mayer has named a 10-player roster for the camp at the Eagen Community Center in Eagen, Minn., that will run from July 12-17. Following the camp, Mayer will take steps toward finalizing the eight-person roster for upcoming Powerchair Football World Cup in Australia in October.
The roster for the Minnesota camp 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 – July TRAINING CAMP
GOALKEEPER (1): Nathan Mayer
WINGS (4): Andrew Cunningham, Alexis Heer, Natalie Russo, Peyton Sefick
CENTERS (3): Jordan Dickey, David Dowling, Riley Johnson
STRIKERS (2): Zach Dickey, Peter Winslow
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.
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 in their final preparation for the FIPFA Powerchair Football World Cup taking place from Oct. 15-21 in Sydney, Australia. 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.