In April 1996, women’s basketball proclaimed “We Got Next” with the tipoff of the WNBA. Now, the women’s movement continues with the inaugural season of the WUSA, a new Women’s Professional Soccer League, ready to start.

Founded by a group of wealthy business tycoons, the Women’s United Soccer Association kicks into action April 14. The league has attracted some of the world’s top stars, including Mia Hamm, Julie Foudy and Kristine Lilly.

Hamm was the youngest player to join the U.S. National Team at the age of 15, Foudy is a 12-year veteran of the U.S. Women’s National Team and Lilly is revered by many as the “best flank midfielder in the world” while leading the University of North Carolina to four consecutive NCAA titles in her stay with the Tar Heels.

The first eight-team markets, which include Atlanta, Bay Area, Boston, Carolina, New York, Philadelphia, San Diego and Washington, D.C., will be

accompanied by a television schedule broadcasting 22 of their games, split between CNN/SI and TNT.

“I think they are keeping the league good with only eight teams to start off,” said NIU women’s coach Frank Horvat. “I think they are expecting crowds of 8 to 15,000 to fill their stadiums, and that is good. Hopefully, it could grow.”

Horvat and his players are especially happy that the league will provide females more same-sex role models.

“This will give a lot of little girls some people to look up to,” said NIU freshman left midfielder Courtney Lewis. “I think this is a milestone for women’s sports. In the United States, the pioneers were the men going with the [Major Soccer League], but I think this will add a whole new twist to women’s soccer. It’s a good step in the right direction for women’s sports. For instance, you had the MLS, and it was huge in Chicago, and now for women to play … we knew that it was coming eventually, but now it’s great that it is in my time where I have a chance to play.”

With the first seven players in the WUSA’s inaugural draft originating from foreign countries, the league already is attracting talent from around the world and expects the fan interest to follow suit.

“Right now the women’s game is so popular, and I think that they need this to sustain their popularity,” Horvat said. “This will be a great outlet for women, and now players on my team who work hard enough can aspire to go somewhere after they are done here at NIU.”