Uncertain future for USA’s female footballers

The American women’s football team played hard to win their third straight Olympic title and partied hard afterwards before preparing to head home to an uncertain future.

The next major tournament is three years away, and options to play at home are limited with the American women’s league, WPS, defunct and plans for a new league still in flux.

“This has been our focus, our attention for the last few years now,” Heather O’Reilly said Friday.

“There’s a little bit of uncertainty right now.”

The Americans won their third straight Olympic title, and fourth overall, on Thursday night, beating Japan 2-1 in a rematch of last year’s World Cup final and avenging the most painful loss in their history. The victory was another showcase of their grit and resilience, qualities that have endeared them to fans back home, as well as a testament to the depth of talent in the squad.

Hope Solo, Abby Wambach and Carli Lloyd have been mainstays of the team for years now. But youngsters Tobin Heath, Kelly O’Hara and Becky Sauerbrunn played key roles in the game – and the tournament – and there’s more where they came from. Just as they’ve been doing since the days of Mia Hamm, Julie Foudy, Michelle Akers and Brandi Chastain, the Americans simply rebuild when big-time players step away or slow down.

But that will be harder and harder as the rest of the world catches up to the Americans.

Emerging rivals

Other countries are pumping resources into their women’s program, and the results were evident both at the Olympics and last year’s World Cup final. After losing their first 25 games to the United States, Japan are 1-2-1 against the US since the World Cup final, and the teams’ rivalry has the potential of being even bigger than those with Germany, Sweden, maybe even Brazil.

After reaching the semi-finals in only their second World Cup appearance last summer, France played in the Olympic bronze medal game, losing to Canada.

“Having a professional league is going to be really crucial for the continued development of our team so we not only can stay on top, but we can keep pushing the envelope,” Wambach said.

“All the other leagues in the world are doing that. That’s why their national teams are even better, because these players are getting more experienced.”

There clearly is interest in the women’s team. Most of the country is on a first-name basis with Abby, Hope and Alex, and their games in both the World Cup and Olympics have been big draws – both in the stands and on television.

The final Thursday drew an Olympic-record 80,203, and Wambach said some of the NBA players passed up seats in a suite to get closer to the field.

Domestic opportunities

But translating that interest into a financially viable league has been trickier than a bicycle kick. The WPS folded earlier this year, the second women’s professional football league to do so in the last decade.

While some players have talked about playing overseas, US Soccer Federation President Sunil Gulati said earlier this week he’d prefer they stay at home. Among the possibilities are upgrading one or more of the various semi-pro leagues in the US, or having an extended residency program for the US national team, with a schedule of 25-30 games per year.

Whatever the decision, the players have to get playing time. Or the gold medals that have become practically a birthright for the Americans might start going to other countries.

“If I sit and think about it, there’s a little bitterness. More than a little bitterness,” Solo said.

“It’s the times we live in, there should be opportunities for women. We have so many young players coming out of college and they have nowhere to go play. They’re not quite good enough to make the national team – but they could be in the next couple of years. But the opportunities aren’t there for them.”

And the Americans will likely need to dip into that up-and-coming talent pool before the 2015 World Cup, which will be in Canada.

Defender Heather Mitts has already said she is retiring. Captain Christie Rampone has two small girls and is 37 – though she plays far younger than that – and has said she needs time to decide whether to keep playing or not. Midfielder Shannon Boxx is 35.

Even Wambach is not a given. Though she craves a World Cup title and has said she intends to play through the 2015 tournament, she turned 32 earlier this summer and her body has begun showing signs of the wear and tear from her fearless playing style.

“I can only be positive that there is a spot for players to play in the future,” Solo said.

“In the near future.”