Soccer: Mill Valley’s McCormack set to represent USWNT at U-20 World Cup in Colombia

Big things have been predicted for and expected of Mill Valley’s Yuna McCormack on the soccer pitch since she was about 7 years old.

“She’s definitely special for sure. I was very fortunate to work with Yuna for her first club team at Mill Valley Soccer Club,” coach Rob Funes said. “She was 7 and was playing U-9s so right away at a young age you could see she had something special. Even at a younger age, she had a very high soccer IQ. She was athletic but what really set her apart from everyone else was her technical ability.”

When McCormack was 9 years old, Funes told her parents that several top NCAA Division I programs would be interested in her. That prophecy was fulfilled on the first day college coaches were allowed to start calling her after her sophomore year at Tam High. She picked the University of Virginia and started all 17 games in the midfield for the Cavaliers as a freshman last season.

This week, McCormack is set to achieve another major milestone in her playing career as she represents the U.S. Women’s National Team at the U-20 World Cup in Colombia.

“It’s been a long journey but I really feel like it’s just the beginning with this tournament,” McCormack said from Colombia on Sunday. “I just hope that I can showcase myself. I’m really excited to compete on the world stage.”

McCormack and her teammates arrived in Colombia on Aug. 20 and have been training to get used to the altitude. The tournament begins on Saturday with the U.S. set to open up group play with a high-profile match on Sunday against defending champion Spain, winners in 2022.

The U.S. will face Morocco on Sept. 4 and close out group play against Paraguay on Sept. 7. Every tournament game will be streamed on Paramount+.

McCormack has previously represented the USWNT at younger age levels, including helping the U.S. win the U-15 CONCACAF Tournament in 2019 and playing in the UEFA Development Tournament for the U-16 team in England just before the COVID pandemic started in 2020.

McCormack was hopeful of receiving an invite to one of the U-20 roster camps when the current World Cup cycle began in January.

“The first few camps I wasn’t invited, which was pretty frustrating for me at the time,” McCormack said.

McCormack’s mother, Etsuko, is Japanese and Yuna drew some interest from the Japanese National Team, which finished second to Spain in 2022.

“They watched a lot of film of me playing and eventually I was invited to the tournament in France with (Japan),” McCormack said. “I wanted to play in the games. FIFA has a one-time transfer rule so I was a training player. I did all the trainings with them and got the full experience, just without the games.”

McCormack retained her eligibility to continue to play for the USWNT and was invited to the final roster selection camp in Georgia in July. About a week and a half later, McCormack received the news that she had been selected to the U-20 World Cup roster.

“She’s one of the hardest-working players and her results have been top shelf everywhere she’s played,” said Tam High coach Dave Presher, who coached McCormack during her one season with the Red-tailed Hawks in 2021-22. “It’s been a storybook career so far. Hopefully she’ll score versus Spain.”

McCormack started playing soccer at the age of 6 and it was clear right away that she had a talent for the game.

“I don’t think there’s a player that works harder outside of team training than her,” Funes said. “She put so much work into her footwork and did it at such a young age that she was able to play at an age up to 2-3 years older.”

McCormack played for Marin FC before moving on to the San Jose Earthquakes, which later became the Bay Area Surf. She played one season at Tam, scoring 13 goals with five assists as the Red-tailed Hawks finished the regular season in second place in the MCAL with a 12-1-3 record, one point behind Branson .

“She’s very fit for the modern game,” Presher said. “Technically, she’s fantastic – probably her best thing is her (one-on-one) ability to beat her player at the highest level and hit a cannon of a shot. … I’ve seen her score some of the most amazing goals and make some of the most amazing passes.”

McCormack enjoyed a strong debut season at Virginia last year with one goal and five assists. She was named one of the 50 best freshmen in the country (No. 48) by Top Drawer Soccer.

“The work outside of training she puts in has taken her to the next level,” Funes said. “I’d give her homework assignments that would take most players a few weeks of practice to get. She’d come back the next practice and do it.

“With soccer, it’s self driven. With the help of her parents [Michael and Etsuko], she’s been able to make this journey and accomplish all these goals. I really don’t think she’s done yet. I think there’s another level she’s going to get to.”