Jeff DiVeronica

@RocDevo

It's time for the U.S. Soccer Federation to show who really runs the National Women's Soccer League: the USSF or the stars of the U.S. national team?

Why? Because NWSL clubs have sold tickets to their post-Olympic matches, and as summer turns into fall soccer fans around the country have paid good money thinking they'd see matches featuring some of those stars from the U.S. squad. All 10 NWSL teams are in action this weekend and it appears even though the Americans were eliminated on Aug. 12 in the Olympic quarterfinals, some of their stars are still on vacation.

As this pertains to fans in western New York, it looks like star midfielder Carli Lloyd won't play for the Houston Dash when they take on the WNY Flash on Saturday night at Rochester Rhinos Stadium. The Houston Chronicle reported Tuesday that Lloyd told Dash coach Randy Waldrum that she won't be returning to the club until Monday (that's Aug. 29, or 17 days since the Americans were ousted via penalty kicks by Sweden).

Lloyd, Alex Morgan, Megan Rapinoe, Hope Solo, etc. — these are the women who fans pay to see. They are the leaders who set the tone for the rest of the players when they're with the U.S. squad or in the NWSL.

And right now they're setting a bad example, one this league can't afford.

You want to stay at nicer hotels, practice at better facilities and travel in a more first-class way — all things Solo slammed the NWSL for in a scathing blog before the Olympics — then turn your league into something special, one that generates more revenue via ticket and sponsorship sales? Not reporting back to your clubs in a timely fashion is not how you sell this sport and that's why the USSF finally needs to put its foot down.

Just so we're clear: the USSF runs the NWSL and pays the salaries for those players on the U.S. squad. So, they're USSF employees. I don't know about you, but when my scheduled vacation time is up my bosses expect me back to work, not when I feel like it. You've had vacation "hangover," right? It feels like a drag to go back to work, but you suck it up and you do it.

That's what should be happening now in the NWSL.



If there are rules in place about how quickly U.S. players on Olympic or World Cup rosters must return to their club teams, now would be a good time to use them. But there aren't, clearly. All you have to do is read what Houston coach Randy Waldrum and Dash midfielder Morgan Brian have said in the last few days.

Corey Roepken, a freelance writer for the Houston Chronicle, asked Brian at Tuesday morning's practice about reporting back to the Dash this week. In doing so, he noted that U.S. defender Ali Krieger returned to the Washington Spirit last week so she was able to play in Thursday's 2-1 Spirit win in a match that was rescheduled from earlier this season.

Here's what Brian told Roepken: "We were told nothing (about a timetable to return to our NWSL clubs)," she said. "We were told it was between the player and the coach. Everyone had a different (Olympic) tournament. Everyone has had a different year. Everyone has a different case. This year Ali felt she was a little more fresh to go than others.

"For us to have come back and play in that game would have been a stretch for traveling all the way back from Brazil and then traveling here. The mental side, the physical side and everything with it, sometimes it's not smart. Krieger made her decision. She felt fresh to go. That's her decision. She talked to her coach. That's great for her. ... We want to help our team in any way possible, but at the same time you have to think about what we just went through, emotionally and mentally."

She said she spoke with Dash general manager Brian Ching about her own timetable. "They wanted us to come back. They said they understood what we've been through," Morgan Brian told Roepken.

What they've been through? If losing in the Olympic quarterfinals is the worse thing that happens to, Morgan, you're going to have a great life. Anyone remember how many days it took some American stars to report back to their club teams after losing the 2011 World Cup on PKs to Japan?

Three.

The U.S. lost on Sunday, July 17 that year and by Wednesday night, July 20, some of them were in Rochester, as the Flash beat magicJack 3-1 in front of a stadium-record crowd of 15,404 fans. Goalie Jill Loyden and defender Becky Sauerbrunn, both backups then for the U.S., played a full 90 minutes for magicJack while stars Pittsford native Abby Wambach and Rapinoe sat out due to fatigue. But at least they were there to sign autographs and wave to the crowd. Wambach, Krieger, Rapinoe and Alex Morgan, then a rookie for WNY, all appeared that afternoon at Eastview Mall to greet thousands of fans and keep selling their sport.

Morgan, in fact, played that night for the Flash.

Back then any rules about players reporting back was a dirty little secret. One rumor was players had a seven-day grace period after their final Cup match, then were supposed to return. Apparently, any rules remain a mystery. But don't take my word for it. Listen to what Waldrum said following Thursday's loss in Houston:

"When our players aren’t (back) and we see that (Krieger) is, as a coach in this league, I’ve got to tell you it’s disappointing and it’s shocking," he said.

When asked specifically about communication between teams and the NWSL office, run by the USSF, he said: "We have not heard from the league, or from U.S. Soccer. I think all of those kind of questions, I would tell you guys to call the league. I read what you guys read. I see tweets about 'seven days.' I read tweets about 'No, it’s up to each team.' We don’t know. We’ve been trying to get answers as well. I would have to defer all those kind of things to the league. I just don’t know. And it does make it difficult."

The NWSL has offered only this comment: "We are looking forward to the Olympic players being back this weekend provided there are no illness or injury issues," according to a tweet by Dan Lauletta of EqualizerSoccer.com.

For the record: Samantha Mewis, the Flash midfielder and second-year pro who was in Rio as an alternate for the U.S., is back with WNY and expected to play Saturday. Waldrum said he's aware of Lloyd having "some engagements that are on her plate," so she says she won't return until Monday.

Here is maybe the worst part about Lloyd not being here: It's the Flash's biggest fundraiser and it's to help cancer patients and to fund research.

I like Lloyd. She has always been gracious with her time in interviews with me and I was happy she became the star during last year's stirring performance in the World Cup and then was named FIFA World Player of the Year in January, an honor she richly deserved. But that 2011 World Cup changed everything. It gave stars such as Lloyd, Wambach, Rapinoe, Solo and Morgan extra earning power via endorsements and a platform to push social change so there isn't such gender inequity in compensation.

But with great power comes great responsibility, for everyone, not just Lloyd, and not being around this weekend to relight the NWSL torch doesn't help the cause.

Rhinos at FC Cincinnati

Matchup: Rochester Rhinos (10-5-9) at FC Cincinnati (12-4-6) in USL Soccer.

When/where: 7 p.m./Nippert Stadium.

Watch live: via www.USLsoccer.com

Standings: Cincy is in third place the USL Eastern Conference, just three points ahead of the Rhinos, who are tied for fifth. The top eight teams make the playoffs. Rochester plays four of its final six matches on the road.

This season: Rhinos won only meeting, 2-1, in Rochester on July 6.

Next: Rhinos at 10th-place Wilmington (6-10-7), 7 p.m. Saturday.