We'll be dropping into Goal - The New York Times Soccer Blog from time to time to provide some perspective on the women's game. Check out our latest post on Women's Professional Soccer and be sure to give us a hand combating the soccer cavemen that show up on occassion just to bash our game.

A standing room only crowd attended the Women’s Professional Soccer’s Town Hall Meeting at the 2008 NSCAA Convention to get the scoop on the new league. The meeting was moderated by USA Today columnist Christine Brennan and had six panelists representing the league including President and General Manager of the Boston Breakers, Joe Cummings, Boston Breakers Head Coach Tony DiCicco, Chicago Owner Gary Weaver, Chicago General Manager Marcia McDermott, Sky Blue Soccer (NJ/NY) Marketing/Public Relations Manager Gloria Averbuch and former NY Power player Emily Janss. Unfortunately, League Commissioner, Tonya Antonucci was under the weather and was unable to participate.

Two attendees that were especially eager for some news were Christie Welsh and Lori Lindsey. Both played in the WUSA and are among the dwindling number of former players that have been hanging and keeping themselves ready for when and if the league ever came back. Both currently play on the Washington Freedom’s W-League team.

I chatted with them for a few minutes after the meeting to get their take.

FG: What did you guys think? Was this new information or have you been hearing things through the Washington Freedom organization?

CW: I haven’t heard much to be honest. We’ve been pretty much out of the picture and training on our own and trying to get ourselves ready for the eventual launch. Today I was hoping to hear a little bit more about what’s going to happen with players and how they are going to be allocated. Obviously, that’s going to take some time to figure out, but that’s the stuff that we’re really interested in. We want the smart people to figure out the business plan and to get that organized and then as soon as we can, to help in anyway that we can. The t-shirts they handed out, I’ll be wearing this around as much as I can to get the logo out and the name. We’re just wondering what we can do to help and what we can do to prepare.

FG: Both of you were around last time and you stuck it out and kept yourself fit, obviously hoping this was coming and then it always seemed to be “next year”. Does it seem real?

LL: I think finally it seems real. Since 2003 when the league suspended everyone’s been saying “the league’s going to be back next year, the league’s going to be back next year,” and finally I think they’re just taking their time and getting it right. I think we heard some of that today about the front office and there’s going to be more information coming about the other side of things about what we need to do to get ready to come for combines or however they’re going to select players.

FG: How many of you guys are out there that have been waiting and just trying to stay ready for the league to come back?

CW: We were just talking about that amongst ourselves on the way here. We were wondering ourselves, how many people are out there. We play in indoor leagues at night and we just ran into a couple girls the other day that still have it and are playing, but they don’t play on W-League teams and we were wondering if they were going to decide to quit the jobs that they now have and are secure financially and jump into something like this again.

LL: I think there are only like five of us.

CW: We’ve just been focused on playing in the league, whenever it is, it might be ten years from now but that’s what I’m going to do. 20 at most, maybe that are like us. We play in the league, the tournaments.

LL. We play with the National Team whenever we can.

Both Welsh and Lindsey will continue to play with the Washington Freedom this year to bridge the gap and expect that they will see more familiar faces dusting off their cleats to try and get themselves back in the mix.

* Photo - Boston Breakers President and General Manager Joe Cummings and Chicago General Manager Marcia McDermott represented Women's Professional Soccer well at their Town Hall Meeting at the 2008 NSCAA Convention. (Andy Mead/YCJ)

Heather Mitts, who is still rehabbing from an ACL injury, has been busy at the NSCAA Convention signing autographs for Under Armour and Women’s Professional Soccer. She took a short break to catch up with Fair Game readers.

Give us an update on the injury. You were in the mini-camp in December. Did you do any contact drills then?

I wasn’t supposed to, but I did. It’s so hard not to when you get out there. That’s the thing that I talked about with Pia. I’m not ready for China because I’m not ready to go out there and be 100%, so we thought maybe February coming into camp which I’m going to do on the 1st and hopefully make the Algarve Cup, without the brace, being 100% and going forward from there.
How are you feeling now?

Great. I’m in Philly right now doing double days. It feels like it did before, Now I know it’s just a matter of me getting out there and getting used to playing with the new players and the old players and getting game fit again.

Have you been following the Four Nations Tournament?

As well as I can. It’s hard when you’re not over there, but I know they’ve won both their games so far. Pia is going to do a great job. I know the players, I’ve talked to a lot of them, are really excited about going forward and obviously the Olympics.

What were your impressions of Pia from the four-day camp in December?

Luckily for me, she was my coach in Philly, so I knew her a little bit before hand. It was so much fun because I knew what to expect and it’s the same old Pia. It’s a completely different philosophy and I think it will be great for this US team to be able to go out there with a new coach and play a new style of soccer.

You’re here signing autographs at the Women’s Professional Soccer booth. What do you think now that it’s really official?

I’m so excited that it’s coming back. We need it. Not only for those kids looking forward to coming out of college and playing and little girls growing up, but also the fact that it’s going to help our Women’s National Team with the pool. We saw that when it went away, we didn’t have as many players that were training single everyday. I think it’s so important to the growth of women’s soccer here in the states.

The WUSA was critical to your development as a player.

I wouldn’t have been on the National Team if it weren’t for the league. It’s just so important for so many of those girls coming out of college that don’t have the means to be able to play every single day with the Women’s National Team. I’ve gotten so lucky from it and I know Shannon Boxx and Abby Wambach are the same story. You look at them and they are two of the best players on the team. It was detrimental not to have a league and I know we are all looking forward to it being back.

I am in Baltimore reporting from the 2008 NSCAA Convention. This post will be brief because I have been up for a very long time.

The big buzz coming out of the convention today is the official launch of Women's Professional Soccer, the new league that will begin play in the spring of next year. They've rolled out the name, logo and launched the website today - enough evidence for even the most skeptical that they are for real and that women's pro soccer will indeed return to the US in 2009.

League Commissioner, Tonya Antonucci gave an informal talk to attendees at the Social for Coaches of Female Athletes and is on the agenda for the Women's Committee Breakfast on Saturday morning.

Everyone seems to be talking about Arsenal Ladies Assistant Head Coach, Emma Hayes', presentation Diagonal Lines; Getting Between to Get Behind. Maybe it's the English accent, but her session definitely impressed the coaches in attendance. The word on the street is if you want a seat at her presentation tomorrow on the Global Growth of the Women's Game and Reflections of the Women's World Cup, you'd better get there early.

More tomorrow from the convention after I've had some sleep!

The US took the match 4-0. Amy Rodriguez made the most of her first cap in two years tallying two. Lindsay Tarpley subbed in for Carli Llolyd about halfway into the second half and got the other two. At least I think they'll give her credit for the fourth goal which looked to be a deflection off an Amy Rodriguez strike. My eyes aren't what they used to be and I was watching on a teeny screen so best check the official U.S. Soccer report when it is posted.

And I'm back to work.

* Photo - Amy Rodriguez rumbles with Martina Franko for the ball. Brad J. Smith ISIPhotos. com

It took me until halftime to get connected, but I have managed to find the US versus China match. I'm watching it on the CCTV-Football channel via Sopcast. If you are new to streaming, you can download everything you need at sopcast.org. Sorry Mac users, it's only for Windows. Make sure you get the player and you will find CCTV Football listed with the sports channels. Looks like Hucles is checking in to start the half and I am off to watch. Don't tell Jen as I am supposed to be transcribing all the interviews I've done in the last couple weeks for Issue 11!

Christie Rampone has been named captain of the U.S. Women's National Team. Christie has always been a great role model for her teammates, quietly leading by example on and off the field. In recent years, she has worked on finding her voice and becoming a vocal leader as well. Congratulations Christie, may you reign in peace!

The National Soccer Hall of Fame ballots are out and a handful of WNT veterans are up for election into the Hall. Joy Fawcett makes her second appearance on the ballot, having narrowly missed her opportunity to go into the hall last year with Mia Hamm and Julie Foudy. She should be a no-brainer this year. Shannon MacMillan makes her first appearance on the ballot and deserves serious consideration by the voters based on her heroics in the 1996 Olympic gold medal campaign alone. Danielle Fotopolous, also a first timer joins Cindy Parlow and Tisha Venturini-Hoch in rounding out the female candidates. If you have strong opinions about who should get into the Hall this year, shoot an email to any of your favorite soccer writers as they are likely voters.

The NSCAA Convention kicks off in Baltimore on Thursday of this week. It is a huge gathering of our soccer community. The new women's professional soccer league will be making some big announcements from there, including their name so we will finally know what to call them! I will be blogging amidst the mayhem and will do my best to post updates as they are made available.

The Four Nations Tournament begins tomorrow with the U.S. taking on Canada. To date, the only broadcasts I am aware of are on CCTV-5 and they are broadcasting all of China's matches. We should be able to catch U.S. v. China on the January 20th at 2:30 am (ET) in the morning. For some suggested ways to stream the broadcast, check out this Big Soccer thread. Give yourself plenty of time to get it working as it can sometimes be a bit laborious (especially if you don't read Chinese). And, beware of Chinese porn. ;-)

* Photo - New U.S. Captain, Christie Rampone takes time to reach out to some young fans.

The news week started out with a bang today with the announcement that Kristine Lilly will not be competing in 2008 as she is expecting her first child. Congratulations to the Heavey's.

Lilly's absence opens up a spot on the Olympic roster and means that someone else will be wearing the captains armband. I guess we will find out who when the team takes the field against Canada in the Four Nations Tournament on January 16th.

I've managed to catch the FNT via the internet for the last couple of years and expect to this year as well. I'll post the details when smarter people than I get it figured it out.

Leslie Osborne has launched a slick new website that is worth checking out. If you're a Mac user, open it in Firefox as it doesn't seem to like Safari at the moment.

Expect some news from the women's professional soccer league next week. They will be cluing us into their progress during the NSCAA Annual Convention in Baltimore.

I just listened to Greg Ryan on Fox Fone In. I promised in Issue 10 I was done with the bus and hoped to have written my last word about goaliegate so I'm not going to delve into it again. I will only ask if it is really fair to a team who now answers to a new coach, to put all this out there now when they are looking to move forward?

Pia's staff is starting to come together. Phil Wheddon, has been retained and will coach the 'keepers. Penn State coach, Erica Walsh will serve on a part time basis and Helena Andersson will serve as the team’s Strength and Fitness coach.

The Four Nations roster won't be released until tomorrow.

Finally, we are busy working on Issue 11 and it will be loaded with good stuff. We're exploring the theme of "Serious About Enjoying Soccer" and are looking for some anecdotes along the line of "You Know Your Taking Soccer Too Seriously When ...". So, if you have an hilarious or scary tale about some over the top behavior of a soccer parent, coach or player who clearly needs to lighten up, we want to hear it. Post it on the blog, or email it to me at gayle@fairgamemagazine.com. Be sure to leave youe name and if we use it, we'll give you credit in the magazine.

For the second year running, Fair Game was very pleased to sponsor the Fair Play Award at the Disney Soccer Showcase. This award is given to the team in each flight that displays the best sportsmanship voted on by match officials and each teams opponents. We are pleased to recognize the following winners listed under their respective flights:

15 Showcase
INTER-UNITED KRUSH (Florida)
15 Predator
B C UNITED FUSION (New York West)
16 Showcase
AFC LIGHTNING 92 WHITE (Georgia)
16 Predator
VIRGINIA RUSH NIKE (Virginia)
16 Copa
FC STARS OF MASSACHUSETTS STARS (Massachusetts)
17 Showcase Blue
ECLIPSE SELECT NORTH 90-91 (Illinois)
17 Showcase White
MONTCLAIR UNITED ARISTOCATS (New Jersey)
17 Predator White
MT. LAUREL UNITED FIRE (New Jersey)
17 Predator Blue
TNFC 91 BLUE LADY RHYTHM (Tennessee)
17 Copa
ARSENAL PRIMO (Nebraska)
18 Showcase Blue
EAST MEADOW DYNAMITE (New York East)
18 Showcase White
FREESTATE SHOOTERS (Maryland)
18 Predator
TEAM OYSL (Canada)

Congratulations. Your good conduct did not go unnoticed.

Team shown is ECLIPSE SELECT NORTH 90-91 photographed by Michael Stapf.