Talking out women’s soccer’s future, with U.S. Soccer at the head of the table

U.S. Soccer on Wednesday held a summit to discuss the immediate future of women’s soccer. The result? Reason for cautious optimism.

The meeting comes at a topical time – six weeks after Women’s Professional Soccer’s official closure and two days prior to the USWNT’s final domestic pre-Olympic friendly at Rio Tinto Stadium. Below you’ll find something of a primer.

So, what is it exactly?

A women’s soccer-themed TEDtalk? A closed-door summit? A brainstorm session? A think tank? A combination thereof, really.

And its raison d’etre?

Determining the best course of action to keep make a women’s soccer league sustainable in the U.S. The demise of Women’s Professional  Soccer was probably inevitable, despite the many residual effects supplied by the USWNT’s performance at the 2011 Women’s World Cup. Its reasons for folding are manifold, although, yes, this guy had a lot to with it.

Judging by USSF President Sunil Gulati’s comments in initial reports, U.S. Soccer seems quite keen to lend a helping hand to the effort – something U.S. women’s soccer fans have long been clamoring for as that sentiment was conspicuously absent throughout WPS’s struggles. The very existence of the so-called task force indicates a level of cooperation from those involved in every station within the WoSo community. That can only be a positive thing.

When was word of the task force first made public?

Gulati first floated the idea while speaking to a select group of media prior to the USWNT’s friendly match against China on May 28. That was 10 days after Women’s Professional Soccer officially closed shop after a five-month ‘hiatus’.

Who was in attendance at Wednesday’s meeting?

Details are sparse, but as per Jeff Kassouf’s report, “…Officials from WPSL, USL, U.S. Youth Soccer and [former Women’s World Cup winner and Boston Breakers head coach] Tony DiCicco.” Beau Dure shared news that representatives from MLS also had seats at the table.

What came out of the first meeting?

Again, details remain sparse, but there are faint signs of encouragement. For one, news that a brand new women’s soccer league is in the works with a launch date sometime next year. Again thanks to Kassouf’s reporting, we know the new coast-to-coast venture will apparently feature 12-16 teams. The league will take a ground-up approach and not apply for Division-1 status, thereby sidestepping exorbitant fees.

Boston Breakers head coach Lisa Cole offered more insight via Twitter. Cole underlined the need to start at a semi-pro level which appears to be the safest way forward. After all, WPS and its failed predecessor the Women’s United Soccer Association were the only fully-professional, top-flight leagues in the world during their respective tenures, and looked how that turned out. Modest…expectations…

But we’ve heard that line before. What’s to say it will be different?

Lessons learned from the failures of WPS and the templates provided by other top women’s soccer leagues around the world, all of which are semi-pro in all but name.

And the new league might have something else going for it. As the USWNT’s string of near-capacity crowds indicates, the  team’s recent surge in popularity is very real. The tremendous uptick in interest (Hope Solo! Abby Wambach! Alex Morgan!) translated to bigger attendances in the final two months of the 2011 WPS season. But by then it was too late. The start-up league could benefit from interest drummed up by the USWNT’s exploits at the Summer Olympics and its inevitable post-tournament friendly tour – if national team players agree to take part, of course.

Still, everything boils down to the pesky dollars and cents part of the equation. WPS and its original driving force Tonya Antonucci made an earnest attempt to avoid the excessive spending and oversized expectations that damned the erstwhile WUSA. While the WUSA overspent itself out of existence, WPS arguably did the opposite. Both leagues ultimately shared the same gloomy fate.

By eschewing the fully-pro route altogether, the new league will look to adopt a more modest, realistic approach – for real this time.