Steve Gaurin Cambridge, Md. I don’t imagine you’ll want to post this question, for fear of inciting an e-battle of the sexes on your Q&A section of the site, but I have to ask because I am truly curious and haven’t been able to find the answer anywhere. During the 1999 Women’s World Cup and after the U.S. women’s glorious victory, there was a good deal of talk in the press and elsewhere about whether the women’s team could play competitively against professional men. I heard a rumor that the U.S. women played a select team of under-16 boys from Maryland and lost 3-0. I have a hard time believing this, as in my opinion the women’s team should be capable of hanging with a good men’s college team, at the very least. Mike Woitalla: Steve, soccer is not a sport where women have an easy time competing against men. Years ago, the U.S. women’s team lost big to a Northern California U-16 boys team and a prominent member of the women’s team told me afterward that when they play against competitive boys teams over the age of 15, the women really don’t stand a chance. I can’t confirm the Maryland score, but I doubt that the U.S. women’s national team would have much of a chance against any halfway decent men’s collegiate team. Unlike skiing or tennis, where the world’s best female athletes could succeed against amateur opponents, even an excellent women’s team would not be able to beat a good amateur men’s team. (If you have a question for a Soccer America Magazine editor, click “Q&A with SA Editors” in the left column of the home page under “Interactive.”)