Fourteen MASL W players will compete in women's minifootball World Cup in October

The US Minifootball Women's National Team has announced its roster for October's WMF Women's World Cup in Mali Losinj, Croatia. Fifteen players and five alternates were charged with the task of earning a second straight world title.

Of the 15 players on the active roster, 14 are expected to play in the newly created Major Arena Soccer League Women starting in the 2024-25 season.

US Minifootball Technical Director Craig Rhodis, Goalkeeper Coach Mark Litton, and eight players return from the 2021 squad that won the first ever WMF Women's World Cup in Kiev, Ukraine.

Returning are 2021 WMF World Cup leading scorer Kenne Kessler, twins Gabby and Emily Byorth, Ashley Gogolin, Alivia Milesky, Erin Yenney, Val Battisti, and Christy Zwolski. 2021 Best Goalkeeper Braeleigh McCoy was named as an alternate.

Of the seven players slated to make their World Cup debuts, three, Elyssa Francis, Kaela Dickerman and Kate Drummond, appeared at both of the team's training camps held in March 2023 in Louisville and this July in Cincinnati. The other five earned their spots from July's camp.

Rhodis and Litton will be joined for the first time by a trio of assistant coaches who have starred for the US Mini Football Men's National Team as well as in indoor soccer's Major Arena Soccer League. Franck Tayou, Uzi Tayou and Ian Bennett were at July's training camp and were part of the roster selection process.

“Our staff and players have worked hard to make sure we are prepared for the WMF World Cup. We have very high expectations for our women’s team, but we realize that the competition will be very strong. We are always looking for ways to improve, to raise our standard. That is one of the reasons for adding Franck, Ian and Uzi to the staff. They will help us tremendously,” said Rhodis.

“As we have gone through the process of selecting the roster and preparing the group, we have realized that one of our advantages is our women have a competitive indoor league.  Fourteen of our 15 players compete in the MASL W. A competitive league creates better players. This has given us a head start. As this league continues to grow, it will create more competition for future rosters,” added Litton.

2024 WMF World Cup roster

Elyssa Francis - Goalkeeper Louisville, Kentucky

Annabelle Hegerman - Goalkeeper Youngstown, Ohio

Val Battisti – Defender Chicago, Illinois

Gabby Byorth - Defender Cincinnati, Ohio

Emily Byorth - Defender Cincinnati, Ohio

Ashley Gogolin - Defender Columbus, Ohio

Alivia Milesky - Midfielder Columbus, Ohio

Kaela Dickerman - Midfielder Louisville, Kentucky

Erin Yenney - Midfielder Louisville, Kentucky

Kate Drummond - Midfielder Cincinnati, Ohio

Kelsey Keown - Midfielder Memphis, Tennessee

Shannon McCarthy - Midfielder Detroit, Michigan

Emily Vatne - Forward Columbus, Ohio

Kenne Kessler - Forward Dallas, Texas

Christy Zwolski - Forward Cincinnati, Ohio

Alternates

Brayley McCoy - Goalkeeper Grand Rapids, Michigan

Macy Wierenga - Midfielder Grand Rapids, Michigan

Kayla Addison - Forward Detroit, Michigan

Ashley Buchta - Foward Brownsville, Texas

Jen Laponte - Defender Houston, Texas

Emily Webster - Defender Tacoma, Washington