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By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

CHICAGO – One of the area’s best soccer players has a chance to represent her country as one of the select players called up to the national team training camp.

The U.S. Women’s National Team called up North Shelby native and Oak Mountain High School alum Nealy Martin for the first time as she was named to head coach Emma Hayes’ 26-player roster on Tuesday, Jan. 7.

Martin will join the USWNT for its year-opening training camp from Jan. 14-21 at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, Calif., home of the MLS’ LA Galaxy.

The camp is traditionally held annually in January and will not feature any international matches but provides an important chance for Martin and others to showcase their skills for Hayes and her staff ahead of the SheBelieves Cup in February.

The roster only features 11 of the 22 players from the USWNT’s Olympic roster. None of the European-based players can be called up due to the camp not falling in an official FIFA international window, and key players like Trinity Rodman, Sophia Smith, Mallory Swanson and Rose Lavelle were left off to either rest or recover from injuries.

Martin was called up to the main roster along with five other uncapped players making their first training camp appearance with the senior national team and 24 up-and-coming players in the Futures Camp, which will also be held in Carson.

Martin is currently a defender and midfielder for the NSWL’s NJ/NY Gotham FC. She made 24 starts for the club across the regular season and playoffs as the team finished third in the regular season table and reached the semifinals, where it would fall in penalties to the Washington Spirit.

She had a memorable 2023 where she started 13 of her 15 appearances and won 85 percent of her tackles in midfield, the second-most among players with at least 20 tackle attempts.

She also became the first field player in NSWL history to play in goal in a playoff match when she filled in during the 2023 NWSL Championship Game after keeper Mandy McGlynn was ejected at the end of the match. Martin didn’t allow any goals while in the net to seal the NWSL title.

Before arriving at Gotham in 2023, she played two seasons for the NWSL’s Racing Louisville after four years at the University of Alabama.

During her career with the Crimson Tide, she scored five goals in 76 matches, was team captain in her junior and senior campaigns and earned Academic All-American First Team honors.

Martin starred at Oak Mountain in high school as a regular fixture of the Eagles defensive line. Her time at training camp will coincide with her induction into the Oak Mountain Hall of Fame on Saturday, Jan. 18.

In her final two high school seasons, Nealy and the Oak Mountain defense gave up just 23 goals in 55 matches while earning All-County First Team honors in both seasons.

During her senior year, she was a Gatorade Player of the Year finalist and the Metro Player of the Year with nine goals and five assists.

As a junior, Martin had six goals and two assists while leading the Eagles defense to the 2015 Class 7A state championship.

Martin also featured on the ECNL club circuit for Alabama FC after playing for Alabama FC and Birmingham United Soccer Association (BUSA) since she was four years old.

“Nealy defines all that is good about coaching,” Martin’s former Alabama FC coach Andrew Brower said. “She is a great person who has a very high moral compass both on and off the field. The cool thing about Nealy is that she has worked hard for everything she has achieved and taken no shortcuts on a long path to excellence. Her ability to always control the controllables by being the fittest, hardest working version of herself at every training session, at every game no matter the score, no matter the level and, no matter the outcome, has enabled her constantly to ascend to new heights as a player. It a tremendous blessing to see someone like Nealy who has put the time and work in, to be rewarded for her dedication and perseverance.”