Do the names Kristine Lilly, Julie Foudy, Michelle Akers, Carla Overbeck, Joy Fawcett, Brandi Chastain and Mia Hamm ring a bell? Well, if they don’t they should — or rather, they soon will.

These seven women are all members of the phenomenal women’s U.S. soccer team.

In June of 1999 the Women’s World Cup will make its debut throughout America. This event will be a chance for the many talented women to finally show their amazing skills. Unlike the 1996 Olympic Games, in which NBC ignored all but the final ten minutes of the U.S. gold medal game, all 32 of the World Cup games will be nationally televised by ABC and ESPN. It is expected that more than 800 million people from around the world will watch these games.

This is a long awaited chance for the members of the U.S. team. These women have been together for ten long years and have finally been given the chance to be seen by the world.

In addition to being exceptional athletes, these women have caused a new found soccer frenzy among the women of the world. In fact, at last count, there were 7.24 million women — ranging from toddlers to mothers — playing the game of soccer.

In fact, at the Division I level there are now more women’s soccer teams then there are men’s. The women number at 229, and the men sit at 191.

Much of this is thanks to Title XI, which gave women not only opportunity, but also role models. Before Title XI there were no women’s teams to provide role models. It was only individuals who excelled at individual sports such as tennis or golf that women could look up to. Now that has all changed.

The women of the U.S. soccer team have become people who millions of women aspire to be like. Their determination, athleticism and personable nature draw millions to watch their games and sing their praises.

Mia Hamm was dubbed the “It Girl” of soccer, and her image in Nike ads and Pert Plus commercials was a catalyst for the sport. Her name is synonymous with, and probably the most well known of, the U.S. team.

As the continual debate rages as to which of these women is the “toughest,” consider what some of them have endured through the years. Akers has fought with chronic fatigue syndrome for six years and had 12 knee operations. Overbeck was doing squats until the day she gave birth to her son, and Hamm had an emotionally draining year watching her brother die of a rare blood disease.

What is most impressive is that despite all of their hardships these women have prevailed. They are all playing the game they love. Plus, they give other women the chance to dream and aspire to new heights.

These women have been known to stand around for as long as an hour after a match signing autographs for adoring fans. The corruption of fame and fortune has yet to hit these stars. For the time being they are still just women who love their sport and all of their fans.

This year the men are battling things out in the World Cup, but next year we will all have the chance to watch these wonderful women show us exactly what has inspired a whole new generation of women to love soccer.

Dawn Kanoski is a junior in journalism and mass communication from Chicago Heights, Illinois.