Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2026 in Houston. (Oscar Herrera/The Cougar)
University of Houston freshman goalkeeper Delilah Burns has been invited to attend the Dominican Republic U-20 national team’s ID camp later this month in Atlanta, Georgia.
The camp will take place from Oct. 8-11. Burns’ hometown is roughly two and a half hours from where the camp will be located.
“Its going to be super nice,” Burns said. “My mom is going to be able to come and I’m going to be able to see my family.”
Burns mentioned that since she was regrouped because of her age, her mom got the invitation before she did.
“I was regrouped and they cycle age groups,” Burns said. “I got called back through their US scout, but my mom got the information before I did.”
She has been invited by the Dominican Republic five previous times, Burns feels honored to be asked to come back.
“It means a lot to represent the country,” Burns said. “But it also means more to play with the same teammates and to be called up over and over again is a huge honor.”
Burns played with the U15 team in the CONCACAF, where she was a part of the runner up team and played with the U17 team and qualified for the World Cup.
Next summer is the next women’s World Cup and Burns mentioned that trying to get back on the team for the big event is huge, but Burns has a way to stay calm and collected under pressure.
“There is a lot of pressure, it is huge to honor and play for the Dominican Republic,” Burns said. “I take it one step and one day at a time.”
This will be Burns’ first camp for the team that is not in the Dominican Republic. The main difference is that she thinks with it being in the United States, it will bring a different atmosphere than the camps she has attended in the past.
“It might be a little different, I’m not going to see most of the local girls,” Burns said. “I’m expecting it to be more competitive not only because they like to go domestic first then international, but since it will be majorly international the pool is smaller.”
With Burns being a freshman she thinks that being invited early in her college career is important because of this being in a different age group.
“I just aged out of U17 and U20 is a step-up,” Burns said. “There are a lot of years between 17 and 20, but the pool is way bigger.”
Burns’ path to Houston moved quickly after she committed in June, which included reclassifying shortly afterward.
“I committed in June, decided to reclassify the next week and I came in on July 4,” Burns said. “So it was a big turnaround in three weeks.”
She played high school in Florida so coming to Houston came with a difference, but also something that reminds her of home.
“How big everything is in Texas,” Burns said. “Houston is a lot like Tampa with diversity and I really like that aspect.”
In the 2024-25 season playing for Robinson High School in Florida, Burns accrued an 80% save rate in 924 minutes of playing time. As the camp approaches, those stats that she gained that year give her a boost of confidence.
“The save percentages and those stats from high school really does benefit and that does boost my confidence,” Burns said. “Being able to look back on what I have done to know that I can do more.”
The Cougars are in the beginning of their Big 12 conference slate and with the camp occurring, it helps Burns move forward in the rest of her freshman campaign.
“I think it is a good reminder why I do love soccer,” Burns said. “Just seeing those faces relive the accomplishments with the same girls, that’s going to be a great way to not only push myself, but to sit back in my seat and look around.”
As the Houston Cougars are on a three-game conference winning streak and being a freshman, Burns has pressure but says she lives in the moment for the game that she loves.
“Yes there is pressure, but one thing that I love about soccer is that whenever I’m doing it in the moment I don’t think about everything going on,” she said. “I only look at the pressure after or before and I try to live in the moment while I’m doing it.
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