Which players from the FC Dallas U‑15 squad that beat the USWNT later reached professional or national‑team levels?
Executive summary
Two names from the widely reported April 2017 scrimmage stand out in contemporaneous coverage as players who later climbed to professional or senior‑national levels: Tanner Tessmann, cited by multiple outlets as a member of that FC Dallas U‑15 side who later turned pro and earned U.S. national‑team recognition [1] [2], and Jaedyn Shaw, who is documented as having been part of FC Dallas’ youth ranks at U‑15 level and who subsequently became a professional and a U.S. international [3]. Reporting beyond those two is thin in the supplied sources, and the record here must be read as what the reporting supports rather than a definitive roster audit.
1. The core evidence: Tessmann’s trajectory from youth scrimmage to pro and national team
Contemporary stories that recounted the 2017 scrimmage explicitly named Tanner Tessmann as a member of the FC Dallas U‑15 side and tracked his later rise into professional soccer and national‑team consideration — CBS Sports and later reporting identify him as having gone on to play in Italy’s professional leagues and be linked with U.S. men’s national‑team involvement [2] [1]. Those pieces position Tessmann as the clearest example within the squad of a teenager from that match who later reached both club‑professional and national‑team levels, and they underline the scrimmage’s subsequent role as an oft‑cited anecdote in narratives about the different physical and developmental trajectories of boys’ and women’s youth players [1].
2. Jaedyn Shaw: documented FC Dallas youth alumna who became a senior USWNT player
Jaedyn Shaw’s biographical reporting shows she spent formative years in FC Dallas’ academy system and was part of an FC Dallas U‑15 championship environment in 2018, and broader career accounts document her path from youth soccer to professional contracts and eventual senior national‑team caps for the United States [3]. Shaw’s Wikipedia entry and youth summaries specifically tie her to FC Dallas’ under‑15 success and note her signing as a professional and debut and goal for the senior USWNT across 2023, making her a second clear instance of a former FC Dallas U‑15‑level player who later reached professional and national representation [3].
3. What the available sources do not support — and why that matters
None of the supplied materials provide a complete roster of the 2017 FC Dallas U‑15 squad or a systematic follow‑up on every player’s career, so claiming more than the two documented examples would exceed the evidence provided; several forum and blog entries reproduce the result or the anecdote without listing or tracking other individuals beyond Tessmann and generically referencing “kids” or the academy [4] [5]. This absence in the reporting means the strongest, evidence‑backed answer is limited to the named players in the sources: Tessmann and Shaw [1] [2] [3].
4. How media framing and anecdotes shaped the story
Coverage of the scrimmage leaned on the shock value of the result and on star‑name anecdotes — Carli Lloyd’s later confirmation amplified the story and outlets ran with the narrative that professional senior internationals were beaten by 15‑year‑olds, which encouraged outlets to spotlight whichever future stars could be named [1] [6]. That framing serves multiple agendas: it elevates the drama of inter‑sex scrimmages, sells a counterintuitive headline, and provides convenient examples (like Tessmann and Shaw) to imply the scrimmage predicted future stardom, even though the supplied reporting does not provide a full longitudinal study of the entire squad’s outcomes [1] [6].
5. Alternative perspectives and the limits of anecdote as evidence
Coaches and analysts quoted in related reporting stress that elite women’s teams often use older boys’ sides for preparation because of speed and physicality differences, and single scrimmage results are not definitive measures of long‑term quality; some sources contextualize the loss as a normal developmental exercise rather than an indictment of the USWNT [4]. Given the incomplete roster follow‑up in the provided reporting, a cautious conclusion recognizes Tessmann and Shaw as two well‑documented success stories emerging from FC Dallas youth ranks mentioned in coverage of that match, while acknowledging that other players from the U‑15 squad may have gone on to professional or national levels without being named in these sources [1] [3] [4].