Sauerbrunn proof U.S. women need league of their own
Otherwise, talent can slip through cracks
Perhaps no one represents the importance of a women’s professional soccer league in the U.S. better than Becky Sauerbrunn, whowouldn’t be on thewomen’s national team today if not for a league that no longer exists.
NowaWorldCup veteran and Olympian, Sauerbrunn said she “wasn’t a complete player” coming out of college. TheVirginia grad polished her game inWomen’s Professional Soccer— aleague that folded in 2012 — where she caught the eye of former national team coach Pia Sundhage.
“It took two seasons of playing for Pia to see me against the best players on the American side to realize that I could hang with them,” said Sauerbrunn, 28, a defender who is with the national team for its “friendly” Sunday against China at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park inCommerceCity. “It was a great platform for me, and it’s really helped other players too.”
WPS was the second attempt to create a “top-tier” national league for women, following the demise of theWomen’s United SoccerAssociation, which failed to take advantage of the popular U.S. team that won the 1999 women’sWorld Cup.
NowSauerbrunn plays for FCKansasCity in the National Women’s Soccer League, which began play last year with a newbusinessmodel. It is subsidized by the U.S., Canadian and Mexican soccer federations, which pay the salaries of the national team members on league rosters. Salaries for other players are capped at $210,000 per team.
National team forward Abby Wambach plays for the Western New York Flash, which plays in Rochester. She’s been in all three leagues.
“We want to see this league survive,” Wambach said. “In order to do so, it’s like any kind of small startup business, you need to have the backing of a corporate sponsor. U.S. Soccer, the Canadian federation, theMexican federation, their support financially will give this league that boost at the beginning. It’s like they’re throwing a bunch of investment money to this small startup business, and hopefully these franchises can build their bases in their communities and get people involved.”
Without a pro league, national team players would be scattered across the country except when on national team duty. They might play at a semipro level or be forced to train with men’s teams or college teams.
“I think the league is a critical part of the national team preparation,” said women’s national team coach Tom Sermanni, who took over from Sundhage last year. “It means our players are in a competitive training environment, week in and week out, for a good part of the year. They’re playing in competitive games that, if we didn’t have a league, theywouldn’t be playing in.”
The NWSL also offers hope to women coming out of college programswhomight have the talent to make the national team after receiving some seasoning.
“If we don’t have a league, the ability for meand our coaching staff to see other players becomes unbelievably limited,” Sermanni said. “It’s maybe OK for the 24 players or so that are in the national team, but if you’re just outside of that, or you’re on the fringes, it’s virtually impossible to be seen.”
Sermanni coached in the WUSA, which failed despite having big-name players such as MiaHammand Brandi Chastain. It lasted three seasons, and he believes if it could have lasted one more, it would still exist.
“And it would be, without a doubt, the best league in the world,” Sermanni said.
Television has never been a revenue source for women’s professional soccer in theU.S. andwon’t be for the foreseeable future.
The question is how long the league will need to be subsidized.
“The three federations came together fully willing to support this, as the foundation for it to grow,” said Cheryl Bailey, NWSL executive director. “That growth is the question. Atwhat point will they step away and allow the league to be free-standing and sustainable? That is the ultimate goal.”