The last three World Cup cycles have been marked by something with which the U.S. Women’s National Team has never previously dealt: a stable and robust professional domestic league. No such league existed from 1991 - 2000, the first wave of top-level international women’s soccer tournaments. The WUSA was in the middle of collapsing as the U.S. hosted the 2003 World Cup, and the program would return to its 1990s structure for the 2004 and 2008 Summer Olympics, along with the 2007 World Cup. The 2011 tournament came in the middle of the chaotic final WPS season. The NWSL finally stuck, and was eventually able to thrive without the direct support of U.S. Soccer. The USWNT now operates like any other international program would: as the supplemental training, developmental, financial, and competitive environment for players relative to their clubs.