Editor's note: University of Hawai'i and Kahuku High alum Natasha Kai, a member of the U.S. women's soccer team, is on the roster of the Sky Blue FC of New Jersey/New York in the Women's Professional Soccer league.

NEW YORK — Launching a pro sports league and creating a new career goal for every soccer-playing girl is the stuff of big dreams.

With the nascent Women's Professional Soccer, the talk is just as often about modest goals.

"Our definition of success is not 10,000 fans a game, or being on 'SportsCenter' every night, or even on the front pages of newspapers," said Peter Wilt, president of the Chicago Red Stars, one of the WPS's seven inaugural teams.

That's because success is simply existing — so the league can inspire the hopes of young girls, nurture the talents of the world's best players, maintain a foundation from which modest goals may someday grow into major achievements.

The WPS makes its debut Sunday when the Washington Freedom play at the Los Angeles Sol. The remaining teams — in the Bay Area, Boston, Chicago, New York/New Jersey and St. Louis — open up the following weekend.

WPS executives have seen what happens when lofty expectations outpace the ability to survive day to day. In the euphoric aftermath of the U.S. victory at the 1999 World Cup, the Women's United Soccer Association was born.

It lasted just three years, burning through more than $100 million in investments.

"WUSA gets a bit of a bad rap because it didn't survive. I would say from the things I've been able to work out that they got nine out of 10 things correct," said Jeff Cooper, owner of St. Louis Athletica. "Just the one thing they got wrong was the financing of the league."

Financing the WPS got all that much tougher when the economy went into a tailspin. As companies cut back on sponsorships and families' disposable incomes shrink, the league's dedication to realistic goals and commitment to the long term will be tested.

"My fellow owners and I recognize that, operationally, we will take some hits," Wilt said. "We're not expecting to be profitable in the short term."

WPS commissioner Tonya Antonucci said teams can be successful if they average 4,000-5,000 fans over the 10 home games on their schedules, a number she believes is very doable.

The economy has hurt sponsorships more than ticket sales, Wilt said, but the Red Stars' budget requires only one-third as much revenue from sponsorships as from tickets.

"We can make a go of it, where our sponsorship is now, forever," he said.

WUSA proved that simply sending out the best players in the world isn't enough. That league had Mia Hamm, after all, a luxury the WPS won't enjoy.

Brandi Chastain, though, is expected to come out of retirement to play for the Bay Area franchise and Brazilian star Marta, the three-time FIFA Player of the Year, has brought her playmaking to the Sol.

"I think the product was great," U.S. national team star Kristine Lilly, who will play for Boston, said of her experience in the WUSA. "I think the business side just wasn't working anymore, and that was just unfortunate."

When Antonucci talks about the business side of the WPS, there's no embarrassment to acknowledge that the business model in many ways is more minor league baseball than MLB.

"You're spending minor league prices, but you're seeing Olympic athletes," said Antonucci, a former Yahoo executive who played soccer at Stanford. "That's a unique proposition."

She wonders if the economy will even help draw some fans, who may go to a soccer match instead of that Major League Baseball game to save money.

A goal of averaging 4,000-5,000 fans means that marketing sometimes involves recruiting one fan at a time. The Boston Breakers have hosted pizza parties at local high schools, said Rachel Epstein, the league's director of marketing. In New Jersey, posters hang in storefronts.

"It's like electing a political candidate," Antonucci said. "You've got to get in and go deep and work it."

Wilt uses Facebook and Twitter to stay in touch with potential fans.

"Is Twitter reaching the 50-year-old guy with a six-pack of beer watching sports on ESPN?" he said. "No. But that's not our audience."

The Red Stars have a partnership with the Illinois Women's Soccer League, a 20,000-member club that was offered the opportunity to own about a 1 percent share in the franchise.

But to succeed, the team needs to attract fans beyond youth soccer players, Wilt said. The Red Stars are also reaching out to Hispanic fans and the gay and lesbian community.

Still, he knows the core fan will be the soccer-playing girl and her family.

"She's critical. We love her. We think we're going to get her," Epstein said.

Now the challenge is to give her a league to cheer on for many years to come.