By Shannon Russell
Enquirer staff writer

Whitney Scott, 11, a forward on the St. Cecelia Crusaders of Independence, Ky. (Meggan Booker/The Enquirer)

USA VS. NEW ZEALAND

The U.S. Women's National Team's Fan Celebration Tour visits 10 cities this fall, just months after the team's 2-1 overtime win over Brazil in the Olympic gold-medal match. The team's stop in Cincinnati comes more than 11 years after its only previous visit to the city, a 7-0 victory over Canada in 1993. When: 4 p.m. Sunday. Where: Paul Brown Stadium. Tickets: Start at $15. Order online at ussoccer.com or charge by phone at (513) 562-4949.

Like many girls her age, 11-year-old Whitney Scott of Independence dreams of playing college soccer and perhaps even going pro. One problem: There is no pro.

Citing financial woes, the Women's United Soccer Association flopped after three seasons in 2003, the same year the National Sporting Goods Association reported 4.1 million girls 7 and older participated in soccer.

As the U.S. Women's National Team plays New Zealand at Paul Brown Stadium Sunday afternoon and begins bidding farewell to retiring players Mia Hamm, Julie Foudy and Joy Fawcett, a question lingers among some Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky players and coaches: If soccer is so popular among females nationwide, why can't a professional women's program survive?

"The WUSA folded?" Scott said. "I didn't even know."

She's not alone. The league succumbed to revenue shortfalls and poor support, averaging 6,667 fans a match in 2003. None of the eight franchises was based near Ohio or Kentucky, making weekend trips to Philadelphia or Boston tall orders for area families, and sporadic television broadcasts prevented potential fans from making allegiances to teams or players.

The amateur W-League, initiated in 1995, is recognized by United Soccer Leagues as North America's best women's development organization. It's also the country's highest-level organized women's soccer league, and the Cincinnati Ladyhawks are one of its 39 teams.

When the WUSA dissolved, many of its players were absorbed into W-League teams.

Eleven former W-Leaguers propelled the United States to a gold medal in the Olympics.

There are plans for a WUSA revival in 2005. Ladyhawks coach and co-owner Wil Cagle said a WUSA return is plausible as long as the league redirects its marketing.

The "old standby," he said, was to target hundreds of teams converging at large soccer tournaments near pro matches. There were two problems with that: Kids usually were busy playing themselves, and their weary parents just "wanted to rest" after watching their children play.

Cagle said women's soccer is a tough sell locally for similar reasons.

"Specifically here, soccer is considered a kids' game. It doesn't generate a lot of adult interest," Cagle said. "Eventually you'll get kids who played 20 years ago, and they'll go."

Major League Soccer games had a 14,898-fan average in 2003, the league's eighth season. Pam Kellems, a Harrison resident who has coached, refereed and played soccer, doesn't rule out such success for the WUSA.

"Our parents didn't play soccer - they played football and basketball. A whole new generation is starting to love it," she said.

Title IX, the 1972 education legislation denying sex discrimination in public schools, and booming youth leagues have opened doors at the collegiate level. The NCAA reports that there were 80 women's soccer programs among Divisions I, II and III in 1981-1982. By the 2002-03 season, there were 879 teams. Today there are 895.

But playing in college doesn't guarantee anything, said Leah Miller,a Harrison High and Seton Hall soccer alum. The four-year Ladyhawk once spent six weeks trying out with the WUSA's Atlanta Beat.

"I think interest is there, but society just does not endorse soccer. The men's team struggled at the beginning too, and they're still not endorsed," Miller said. "... If women's pro soccer comes back, I want it to come back strong. But it will take a lot of reorganization for it to come back and last."

Women's national team players long have possessed star quality, a trait evident in June when former Washington Freedom players Hamm and Abby Wambach made a rare local appearance. The Freedom played the Ladyhawks in a sold-out exhibition match at West Carrollton High School.

Women's pro soccer also competes for dollars with professional, semi-pro and amateur sports.

Theresa Hirschauer, Cincinnati Country Day athletic director and varsity girls' soccer coach, said corralling today's multi-tasking youths is a daunting task in itself.

"When the league was organized, I thought with the youth out there it would explode. I think there are just so many things for youths to do," Hirschauer said. "They're spread too thin."

E-mail srussell@enquirer.com