One of the main headliners at the Sydney Olympics is undoubtedly the U.S. Women's Soccer Team.

They're a top attraction in Australia, simultaneously raising the profile of soccer and of women's sports. News Specialist John Daley has their story.

Here's a sign of how things have changed for women's soccer. In Atlanta, NBC never aired the entire game of the U.S. women's gold medal victory.

The network was widely criticized and, this time around, there will be much more women's soccer televised both on NBC and its cable networks.

It was an unforgettable moment for women, for soccer, for Brandi Chastain, and for her now-infamous sports bra. When the U.S. won the Women's World Cup last year, it was a shot heard round the sports world, and one that's still reverberating a year later.

At a recent Utah Blitzz playoff game, it's clear that last summer's heroics made a big impact and that the sports landscape has changed forever.

Lydia Ojuka/BYU Soccer Player: "SOCCER IS GETTING BIGGER AND BIGGER AND THERE'S LOTS OF OPPORTUNITY FOR LITTLE GIRLS TO GO ON AND ADVANCE AND TO BECOME SOMETHING. THERE'S LOTS OF OPPORTUNITY IN SOCCER."

Natalyn Lewis/BYU Soccer Captain: "I THINK IT'S HUGE. IT'S VERY EXCITING FOR OUR TEAM. AND ANY OTHER WOMEN'S TEAM FOR THAT MATTER, JUST BECAUSE ALL OF THE PUBLICITY THAT GETS BUILT UP BEHIND IT AND THE GREAT SUCCESS OF WOMEN'S SOCCER."

For U.S. women soccer stars, their new-found prominence gives them a chance to pass the passion they feel for their sport on to a new generation.

Mia Hamm/U.S. Soccer Player: "YOU KNOW WHAT WE'RE TRYING TO DO IS OPEN MORE DOORS FOR PEOPLE AND GET MORE OPPORTUNITIES FOR PEOPLE, AND THE BEST WAY TO DO THAT IS TO STAY POSITIVE."

That's a message that touches home here in Utah, where soccer is the number one participatory sport.

Many of those players are girls, hungry for someone to emulate.

Jim Anderson/Soccer Dad/Coach: "THEY DON'T HAVE A LOT OF PEOPLE TO ROOT FOR. A LOT OF BIG ROLE MODELS. THEY BOYS SEEM TO HAVE A LOT, BUT THE GIRLS DON'T HAVE A WHOLE BUNCH SO IT'S REALLY GOOD TO SEE THE GIRLS LOOK UP TO PEOPLE LIKE THAT."

Danielle Anderson/Soccer Player: "THEY'RE AWESOME. I LIKE THEM A LOT. I LIKE TO WATCH THEM ON TV BECAUSE THEY'RE AWESOME AND THEY MAKE GOOD EXAMPLES FOR OTHER PEOPLE."

Not bad for a team many folks knew nothing about just four years ago.

If all goes well for the U.S. Women, they would compete for the gold medal at Stadium Australia on one of the final days of the 2000 Olympics.