Monday, September 8, 2008

TAMPA, FL – There are only a handful of individuals in the United States that can be considered experts in the women’s game. On the second day of play at the USL W-League combine, USLsoccer.com sat down with one of them – Tony DiCicco, the head coach for the Boston Breakers of Women’s Professional Soccer (WPS).

The former US Women’s National Team coach and Women’s United Soccer Association Commissioner needs no introduction to those in the women’s game, a stark contrast to many of the players on the field who have been trying to introduce their talent at the Ed Radice Sports Complex during the combine.

DiCicco confirmed that the consensus perception that the overall quality of players at the combine was good, adding that the talent level is as high as ever.

“The player level is better at this stage than it was before when we started the WUSA. The quality of the amateur players is much better, which will create a very competitive league in WPS from the very first game. Because of the W-League, they have been able to keep playing, keep working on their future. And with the number of teams having increased, more players have been able to take advantage of that opportunity. It is exciting for us as coaches.”

The excitement within the even-keeled coach may primarily come from the opportunity to coach in WPS after previously serving as the WUSA Commissioner.

“It’s very exciting. Last time I was an administrator, but this time I am coaching. With WUSA I was creating these sort of events working on the competitive side of the administration. I worked on attracting the top international players, and I think we did well. We were just over-aggressive on the business plan side.”

Outside of those three WUSA years DiCicco, who is currently the US Under-23 Women’s head coach, has always been coaching at some level of the game, but at times the urge to return to the sideline made the role of commissioner tough.

“It was difficult as commissioner, but I felt I could help the league more from that position even though there were a few chances when I could have been coach during that time.”

DiCicco will be back where he arguably belongs in Boston and is buried in the player scouting and selection process for the brand new team.

“It is always unique to start from scratch. There are always opportunities for mistakes, but it can create a lot of great successes as well. Right now we are still measuring the talent of the players. We are looking for special talents such as whether someone is a take-on artist, a leader or an organizer. We are trying to find players who hopefully have multiple strengths. In the first year of the WUSA, there was a transition process because the players were not as played in because there was no long-term anticipation of the league. This time, a lot of players have been waiting for WPS, so it is a deeper group of talent, but we will still make some mistakes. It just might not have quite the star power as before when we were coming off winning the World Cup here in the US.”

The next step in the process of putting the teams together will be the allocation of the US Women’s National Team players, the Foreign Player Draft and the General Draft over the next few weeks.

“I think there’s a few here that may be drafted in October, but most will be selected in the draft in January following the WPS combines. A lot of US senior and U-23 national team pool players not part of the allocation process and the remaining foreign players will be a large part of the draft in October.”

Although the W-League players in Tampa this weekend may have to wait through the winter months, the good news is the impression they left on the WPS coaches like DiCicco who were on hand.

“With a limit of five internationals per team, more than half of the players will have to come from places like the W-League. Right now the jump from college to WPS is big. Only a few college players are really ready to play at the WPS level and many will have to be in the under leagues to continue their development.”

The development role the W-League has played over the course of 14 years has played an important role in North American women’s soccer according to DiCicco.

“It has been absolutely vital. The W-League allows players to continue to play and develop. Most female players don’t reach their peak in their early 20’s. It is important they continue their development for when they do reach that peak in the later 20’s. The W-League is a very competitive environment because of the former professionals and internationals in the league.”

He went on to add that “When WPS starts, some W-League players will again become national team players like before with WUSA,” going on to list players such as Abby Wambach, Shannon Boxx, Lindsey Tarpley and more.

The evolution of the development pyramid is aiding in creating those players as well, but the trappings of the overall current model have given other nations the opportunity to gain ground on the technical level in competing with the United States.

“There is a player development gap. Unfortunately, right now the emphasis is on winning at the youth level, which takes away from development. We are still good. These girls out here are not lacking in effort, fitness or technique. But as a whole among the players in this country there is a collective naivety. It comes from the pool being basically 95 percent from the same demographic whereas the men’s game is more internationally diverse. The women’s pool is a narrow band demographically.”

The culture difference is also a large part of the competitive parity that has begun to set in at the international level.

“In most countries, soccer is a macho culture where women are frowned upon to play much like how we typically would not want our girls playing American football, but they are getting better as that attitude changes.” But DiCicco added that for those who do dive into soccer abroad, they benefit from the sport’s culture. “We see so much basketball here. Our players know how to double-team a seven-footer whereas outside of the US, soccer is the primary content on the sports page and fills the sportscast on television.”

So where does the coach go from here?

“We keep seeing players, evaluating talent, communicating with internationals. We don’t kick a ball until February so it will be important to keep communicating the expectations we will have with the future players who may be in WPS.”