Lo’eau LaBonta may be in her first camp with the USWNT at 32 years old, but age is just a number.
Head coach Emma Hayes echoed that sentiment after calling LaBonta up for the two friendlies versus China PR (May 31 at 5:30 p.m. ET) and Jamaica (June 3 at 8 p.m. ET).
“She's trained really well this week, and she's fit really well into the group,” Hayes said. “She's got a great personality. Brings a lot of great energy to the locker room.”
Hayes has harped on developing the young pool of talent in the lead-up to larger tournaments like the FIFA Women’s World Cup in 2027, but that doesn’t mean sacrificing leadership. Hayes sees LaBonta as a great role model for players like 17-year-old Yohannes.
Midfielder Yohannes may be a teenager, but she’s already got a year of USWNT experience on LaBonta. In June 2024, Yohannes earned her first cap — and her first goal — at Allianz Field in St. Paul, Minn. where LaBonta dons the red, white and blue for the first time. So, as Yohannes is learning tactically from a seasoned player like LaBonta, she’s also sharing her breakfast combo and other valuable knowledge all first-timers need to know just as others taught her.
“[Veterans] have been here for so long, so they know how it is coming in as a first timer, and now that I've been in camp for a little while, I think I've grown my comfortability,” Yohannes said. “I'm just trying to continue to grow.”
Meanwhile, for LaBonta, it’s a balance trying to learn as a newbie and being a leader for players like Yohannes and her Kansas City Current teammate Michelle Cooper.
“It's interesting because they have all the answers, right?” LaBonta said. “I think it's interesting to have to lean on [younger teammates]. ... It doesn't matter how old you are, how young you are, you can still ask people, you still learn.”
International soccer is a different style of play from what LaBonta is used to as captain at Current, the No. 1 NWSL squad. It’s faster, and LaBonta is reveling in it, excited to take it back to her club.
“I would have loved to develop in this environment, but I'm here now and I'm enjoying it,” LaBonta said.
Yohannes, however, is developing in the international system. LaBonta eager to play with a rising talent, and calls herself a fan.
Still, Hayes preaches the long game when it comes to Yohannes, allowing the young player to develop into the international star that many see the potential of her becoming. That’s where LaBonta and other leaders come in.
“[Yohannes] has got unbelievable maturity and coachability, and someone who I know is going to become an important part of our program,” Hayes said, “but I'm invested in that development, and we have to be patient with that.”
