Lauren Price Seattle, Wash. When the core of the women’s national team retires, who do you expect to be the future leaders of the team? Shannon MacMillan, Cindy Parlow, Tiffany Roberts? Is there anyone capable of taking over for Carla Overbeck and Julie Foudy? Dean Caparaz: Those are good questions, Lauren. When the veterans on the U.S. women’s national team retire, there will still be some strong personalities left. Starters Tiffeny Milbrett and Kate Sobrero will probably still be around, along with Shannon MacMillan, who was mostly a reserve during the World Cup. Once Hamm retires — or if the U.S. ever switches to a formation with flank midfielders — look for MacMillan to start. I expect that those three will be the new leaders on the team when the veterans — 1991 World Cup champions Hamm, Michelle Akers, Joy Fawcett, Kristine Lilly, Brandi Chastain, Carla Overbeck and Julie Foudy — are gone. If Briana Scurry doesn’t follow those players into retirement or fulfill her dream of playing in the WNBA, the confident goalkeeper would be another leader and option to replace Overbeck and Foudy as captain. But it is unlikely that we’ll see a shift in the team’s hiearchy until after the 2000 Olympic tournament.