Colorado forward Hope Leyba has been selected as one of 24 players to participate in the U.S. National Team Development Camp, which will take place alongside the USWNT January training camp at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California.
The camp is scheduled from January 17 to 21 and includes mostly collegiate athletes, with 21 out of the 24 participants currently playing at the college level. The roster spans six birth years from 2003 through 2008, and 11 players are eligible for the upcoming 2026 FIFA U20 Women’s World Cup.
Heather Dyche, head coach of the U.S. Under-23 Women’s National Team, will lead the camp, supported by all other women’s and girls’ YTN head coaches serving as assistants.
Leyba is among six forwards invited and is one of three Big 12 Conference representatives on the roster, joining Texas Tech’s Macy Blackburn and TCU’s Seven Castain.
Leyba earned First Team United Soccer Coaches All-American honors in 2025 after a strong season with Colorado. After scoring 10 goals in her first two seasons across 43 games, she finished the most recent season as the nation’s top scorer with 22 goals over Colorado’s 24 matches.
She set new program records for both goals and points (45) this year and was named Big 12 Forward of the Year. Leyba recorded two hat tricks during the season, becoming the first player in Colorado history to achieve multiple three-goal games in a single season and only the second Buff ever to have more than one career hat trick. She began her season with goals in each of Colorado’s first five matches—scoring nine times over that stretch—and had another five-game scoring streak later in conference play that helped Colorado go unbeaten at 4-0-1 while she scored seven goals during that period.
Her performance led not only her team but also topped most offensive categories within the Big 12 Conference. Nationally, she ranked fourth in total points and goals per game (0.92), ninth in points per game (1.88), and was among NCAA leaders for shots per game (16th with 4.04) and shots on goal per game (16th with 2.00).
Additionally, Leyba was named a finalist for Top Drawer Soccer’s Player of the Year award and reached semifinalist status for the prestigious MAC Hermann Trophy in 2025.
More details about Colorado Soccer can be found at cubuffs.com/soccer.
