PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA – On day 2 of the NSCAA Convention, it was the turn of the women’s professional soccer league, WPS, to conduct its annual players draft, as MLS and the men had done the day before.

While it was great to see some young women who I’ve been watching play since they were 14 or 15 years old realize a professional ambition, it was hard not to have some mixed feelings about the prospects for the long-term future of it all.

WPS has some serious owners and management. It has some talented players and it has a lot of moral support from people like me who want to see women’s professional soccer make it in this country.

What it needs a whole lot more of is fan interest, and if it doesn’t get it fairly soon there won’t be such a league. Recent events in Haiti remind us that this is not a tragedy. Having the league make it is a hope and a desire, not a need or a necessity. With top salaries estimated at around $30,000 per year, it’s not really a long term career alternative for young ladies graduating from college, other than perhaps those who are in the full national team mix for a long time coming. The world will continue on either way, but it’s still true that it will take a considerable increase in butts in seats and dollars spent for the league to keep going, maybe even beyond this season.

So while league commissioner Tonia Antonucci sounded notes of promise in her introductory speech, there are some big question marks hanging over the league’s future.

Something that is not in any question is the possibility of North Carolina’s Tobin Heath. The #1 selection in the draft, taken by the new Atlanta franchise, the announcement of Heath’s name prompted a rather raucous, even excited response in the draft room here at the Pennsylvania Convention Center. The 10-year old girl in front jumped out of her seat and started cheering, reminding me of just how many families of girl players across the country have mentioned Tobin as a player they love to watch. I think the league may have something special on its hands in this player and they need to market her correctly without burning her out on the business end.

As I did yesterday, I couldn’t help but think of Heath playing at PDA back when I started doing this, or Kelley O’Hara playing club soccer  in Georgia, Whitney Engen with Slammers, Nikki Washington with Dallas Texans, Casey Nogueira with CASL or Brittany Taylor with Parsippany. So there too is an incentive for helping keep the league alive, a chance for these talented players to keep playing.

But again, it is a wish, not an entitlement.