In just over two years, the United States of America women’s senior national team will take the court and represent the country as the hosts of the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games.

It will be USA’s fifth appearance on the biggest of stages, after they finished 5th at Los Angeles 1984 Olympic Games, seventh at Seoul 1988, sixth at Barcelona 1992 and eighth at Atlanta 1996.

Therefore, it will be USA’s first appearance in 32 years, and the ambitions are clear: to put a strong performance, which would make Americans proud.

Until then, the USA women’s junior team is featuring at the IHF Women’s Junior World Championship for the third time in a row. At Slovenia 2022, they finished 31st, while two years later, in 2024, they ended up on the 30th position. And there is room for improvement, despite their debut bringing a heavy loss, 21:44, against Czechia.

That makes what is happening in Jinzhong right now all the more significant. The programme is building, slowly but steadily, and the junior tier is where the foundations are being laid.

“I think for most of us it is our first time here at the World Championship. We have a lot of young players who are 16, 17 or 18 years old, so I think we did a good job. And we scored 21 goals and I am proud of the team,” said USA’s left back, Maggie Doherty Dahllof.

Doherty Dahllof Is the only player in the team who is 20 years old and has featured over the last year for Swedish side Huddinge HF. In fact, that is a common theme between the players registered by the USA for this edition of the IHF Women’s Junior World Championship, with plenty plying their trade in Europe.

Five of the players in the roster coached by Thomas Baeckmann are featuring in Germany, two are playing in Norway, while two are USA-based. One each comes from teams in Spain, Greece, Hungary, France, Sweden, Switzerland and Tunisia.

“I am very happy to participate in this World Championship. It is a great experience for me and I am proud to be here and feature for the USA. I want to give my all and to offer everything I can,” said centre back Rafailia Varytimiadou, who is playing at AESH Pylaia Thessaloniki, in Greece’s second-biggest city.

 

However, the learning curve is a steep one, as the team needs to build up chemistry and gel in just a matter of weeks before taking on some of the best teams in the world. The draw has not been kind to USA either, sending them into Group F, alongside three European teams – Czechia, Montenegro and Iceland – which means that points will be hard to reach, leaving the USA waiting for the President’s Cup for opponents from their tier.

But if there is one thing which links all these players together it’s the dream of representing the USA in senior World Championships at at the Olympics.

“My dream is to succeed in this challenge and to be a part of the senior team,” says Varytimiadou.

“I think everybody’s dream here is to play for the USA at the Olympic Games. And we are looking forward for this journey, which could provide us a launchpad for the LA 2028 Olympic Games,” adds Doherty Dahllof.

 

The left back has been nothing short of special in the first match at China 2026, becoming the early top scorer of the competition, with 13 goals from 22 shots, as her power shots were impossible to stop at times.

“I think we have a very good chemistry. Even though a lot of us have never met, I think we have learned to talk to each other. We have a good team chemistry and we have fun at the hotel together.”

“So, I think we are doing good,” concludes Doherty Dahllof.