After season two, has anyones opinions changed? I feel more strongly now that there are so many more world class non-yanks on the up and up, that the forgien player limit should be abolished. But of course I am biased.
I guess the thousand dollar question is what is the purpose of the league...to develop our nations best or to have everyone's best. The other question bodes on attendance. Do local cities support foreigners as much as there own? Just thoughts to ponder.
The two thousand dollar question is do you want to watch half ass soccer, or world class soccer? Univeristy is for developing, and if you're GOOD ENOUGH (or have the potential) then you go to the WUSA. Thats' the way it should be.
Eventually I would like to see the international player limit increased from four to at least five or perhaps even six. I would also like to see roster sizes expanded back up to 20, but for right now the WUSA has to keep salary expenses down as much as possible to help ensure that the league survives.
Out of curiosity, what is the rationale behind foreign player limits in the men's european leagues? I would say it is NOT money.
The limit in the men's leagues in Europe is to protect the developing local player. IIRC, they do not have a specific quota. Instead, they have certain requirements, such as participation in the first squad of the national team of the player's home country. I can't speak for elsewhere, but Boston was loud and strong in their support of Dagny Mellgren and Maren Meinart, the two foreign players that produced for the team. I'll let the Atlantans speak about the local support for the denizens of USA-North. As far as the topic of maintaining the limit, I'd be in favour of keeping it in place. This will help keep a very high standard of international players in the league and help develop the American players to a higher level.
I think foreigners provide the bulk of the classy players in the league, but I think the limit will actually go DOWN to 3 if anything - the reason being that more and more non-Americans don't count against the limit because of Green Cards, etc. Here in DC, we have three players who play for other NTs but don't count against the limit, a US Citizen born and raised here (Gerardo), a foreigner with US birthright (Jones), and a green card holder (Makinen). In Atlanta, I'm pretty sure Nonen is a Green Card holder and Hooper should have hers by the start of next season. There must be others as well. MLS cut its limit for similar reasons. (mind you , the league is required by law to count green-card holders as non-foreigners). On the other hand - if increasing the limit ensures that players like Tracey Milburn are no longer in the league, I'm all for it.
It may be that changing the foreign player limit won't make much difference in the actual makeup of most teams. Just because someone is a foreigner doesn't mean they're a better quality player. Assuming the WUSA is around for a while, the ratio of Americans to foreigners will go up and down.