January 23, 2001
Commentary in Women Soccer World© January/February 1999

A New Export Business for the United States
By Roger Rogers

Recently two of the more impressive examples of the rise of United States women's soccer to the top of the sport have become apparent, and both have become part of a new export - expertise in women's soccer training. One of them is the rise in quality of competitive soccer training programs at over 650 Colleges and Universities accredited by either the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) or the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA).

Top players from countries such as Canada and England, where limited support and training programs exist, are increasingly enrolling in U.S. schools with women's soccer programs, where they can improve their game skills and continue their education. Although it is sometimes difficult for foreign students to find places at the top ranked NCAA soccer universities due to the ever expanding pool of highly skilled girls playing in the United States, new women's soccer programs are added every year to comply with student athlete equality requirements and with established schools are supplying quality training programs for developing players from many countries.

The other trend takes advantage of the fact that the United States has the largest mix of immigrants in the world. By importing dual nationality players from the United States to strengthen their national teams, those countries whose development of women's soccer is only just beginning or is poorly supported can make their teams instantly more competitive. Any success may raise the public's interest and exert pressure on the federations to increase support of women's programs.

Mexico for example, with the help of several dual-nationality U.S. college trained players, will participate in the World Cup this year for the first time ever, after beating Argentina in home and away games. Spain's U-18 National Team recently used a U.S.-Spanish citizen, trained in the U.S. Olympic Development Program for Girls, in UEFA U-18 competition.

This exporting of U.S. training and players may herald the start of a new approach by infusing skill and technique into national teams struggling to climb higher in the women's international rankings.

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