National Soccer Alliance consultant Jennifer Rottenberg says the proposed womenÆs professional league could be in business as soon as the next meeting of the U.S. Soccer national board of directors, which takes place Oct. 4. In their Sept. 11 announcement of the league’s eight venues and operational details, NSA officials sounded confident that quality womenÆs professional soccer is no longer a possibility but a probability. Rottenberg even said the NSA does not expect to have any financial setbacks in its first season of play. “WeÆre not projecting any losses,” she said. It is not a sure thing, though, that the NBOD will approve the league, which is asking for Division I status. U.S. Soccer’s women’s development committee is believed to be divided on the NSA issue. Included among the Division I standards put forth by U.S. Soccer are stipulations that all head and assistant coaches be full-time employees, each team has a $1 million annual operating budget (with a $400,000 player budget), and the league be in operation at all levels for a minimum of one year prior to the start of the playing season. In comparison, Division II status requires only a $400,000 operating budget per team, does not stipulate full-time status for coaches, and has a clause that such a league be in operation only six months prior to its debut. If the league does happen, says NSA advisory board chairman Anson Dorrance, “the standard of competition will be higher than the caliber of competition there in Buck Shaw Stadium [in last yearÆs NCAA Division I final four at Santa Clara].” Twelve million dollars in capitalization money, culled from “a small consortium of investors,” as Rottenberg put it, gives the NSA clout. Rottenberg declined to name the leagueÆs investors and sponsors. The league wants to open play April 17, 1998, and end its season with a championship match on the Fourth of July weekend. Each of the eight teams will play a 20-game regular season. The venues were chosen from a pool of 20 areas that were deemed hotbeds of womenÆs soccer: Boston, Dallas, Los Angeles, New Jersey, Raleigh, San Jose, Seattle and Washington, D.C. To break even, the league would need to average about 2,500 fans per game, according to Rottenberg. The NSA is looking at stocking each team with about 18 players, starting with two allocated U.S. players. The rest, including a maximum of four foreigners, would come via a league draft scheduled for February,1998 and from local tryouts. Salaries will range from $15,000 to $30,000 a year. by Soccer America Associate Editor Dean Caparaz