Both the WUSA and MLS have plans to launch a women's
pro soccer league in 2001, but "no one knows yet if there
will be cooperation or conflict" between the leagues,
according to Jerry Trecker of the HARTFORD COURANT, who
writes that if organizers and players are "smart, they will
make sure there are not two attempts to take advantage of
the popularity of the women's game." WUSA Senior Advisor
Lee Burke: "We are confident that we will be sanctioned [by
the USSF]. We are prepping to move forward regardless of
what happens." Trecker writes that USSF President Dr.
Robert Contiguglia is "working behind the scenes to bring
the sides together." But the "problem" is that the WUSA has
"the players but no stadiums," while MLS has the stadiums
but "not the track record of success to inspire the women to
link their futures to the men's league." U.S. women's
soccer team member Sara Whalen: "Where was MLS two years
ago? I trust [WUSA Chair] John Hendricks. What is MLS
offering? When we looked at what WUSA was offering, it was
clear that they both met and exceeded our ideas of what a
league should be" (HARTFORD COURANT, 4/13). In CA, Fred
Robledo wrote that the WUSA's plan to go "head-to-head" with
MLS "doesn't make a lot of sense. Why not compete in a
different season, a shorter season, so that soccer fans
aren't asked to choose allegiances?" (VALLEY TRIBUNE, 4/12).
