New women's soccer league

There is no going back on the Women's Professional League now, not after Tuesday's dispersal draft of the U.S. Olympic players in a large (and seemingly expensive) ceremony in Manhattan. Questions will remain as to whether this league can survive, or if it will suffer the same fate as WUSA, which folded after just three seasons.

Whatever the future holds, this has to be good news for all the top girls soccer players on all levels. A sport without a professional league is a dead-end, and this is an opportunity to extend skills beyond college while earning cash. Here is my story on the allocation with a link to a video.

The girls in New Jersey certainly have examples to follow. Three players from the Garden State were part of Tuesday's allocation, and all three played for New Jersey public schools --- Heather O'Reilly (East Brunswick), Carli Lloyd (Delran) and Christie Rampone (Point Pleasant).

There some interesting developments from the allocation ceremony, which you can read below.

*NBA star Steve Nash, who is an investor in the WPS, was the MC of the ceremony. He introduced a lot of the players and told the audience which team each player is joining. He made a big mistake, however, when he introduced Shannon Boxx as a member of the NY/NJ franchise, Sky Blue FC. Instead, Boxx was allocated to Los Angeles, and Nash had to embarrassingly retract his announcement. Imagine if David Stern said Nash was drafted by the Knicks instead of the Suns. I'd be happy.

*Goalkeeper Hope Solo, who was picked by the St. Louis franchise, was up to her usual bizarre stuff.  While other players were doing interviews and conversing with one another, Solo was by herself with a cell phone for most of the time.

*Natasha Kai was the only player from outside the metro area who was picked by Sky Blue. The Hawaiian said it was her No. 1 choice, even though "I'm not familiar with this place at all." If you don't recognize her name, you'll recognize the tatoos. Her entire right arm is covered and she said she's getting the left one done soon.

So, does anybody think this league will last? Or is this doomed to fail like WUSA?