A new women's soccer league announced today that it will begin play in 2009, and although it's a seven-team league with dozens of players, whether it succeeds or fails may be about one player: Abby Wambach.Wambach is the best women's soccer player in America, and it's clear that Women's Soccer LLC hopes that this month's Women's World Cup and next year's Olympics can make her a Mia Hamm-type star in time for the league to start play in a year and a half. Wambach sounds ready:
"A league was the most important component to getting me completely prepared to play at the next level," said Wambach, the leading scorer for the U.S. women's national team. "What this means is that more women will have more opportunity to not only play at the next level, but also fulfill lifelong dreams of being a professional athlete."
The 1999 Women's World Cup was the height of popularity for women's soccer in America, and the WUSA wasn't able to capitalize on that success. I'm extremely skeptical that any women's pro soccer league can become a financial success in the United States. But Wombach has a year to become the kind of star who can carry a league.
