As most already know, when the U17 Women’s National Team lost in penalty kicks to Canada last Thursday, they lost more than a game. They missed a chance to punch their ticket to the 2010 U17 Women’s World Cup in Trinidad and Tobago.

But what many don’t realize is the trickle-down effect of the U17s’ defeat. The current U17 Women aren’t the only ones left dealing with disappointment.  

The pangs of loss were felt by everyone involved with U.S. Soccer, but none were more disheartened than the players on the current U15 Girls National Team – some of whom had expected to play in the U17 World Cup in September.

For those girls, the U17s’ loss wasn’t like watching their favorite team miss a chance to go to the Super Bowl on TV.

It was as if they had lost that chance themselves.

A number of players on the U15 squad have been in camp with the U17 team, and two – defender Katie Naughton and midfielder Ashley Meier – were first alternates to play against Canada with the U17s. So the loss was hard on all the U15 players, and they are still learning how to cope with it.

“When the opportunity to play in the World Cup went away, that sort of threw our 15s back, as well,” U15 Head Coach Mike Dickey said. “We’re going to Europe in July to play, but still, the World Cup is the biggest thing you strive to be a part of – every nation in the world wants a part of that. So it’s upsetting, but we all have to go back home, keep working on our own, keep striving to get better, and come back strong in 2012.”

FIFA holds U17 and U20 Women’s World Cups every two years, so most of the U15 girls will have a few more chances to represent their country on the game’s biggest stage. Dickey said it was important for his young players to look ahead and remain confident despite the 17s’ loss.

“What I told both groups, the 17s and the 15s, is not to let this result define them,” he said. “Clearly, they were disappointed. But I wanted them all to take something positive out of the loss.

I asked them, ‘How will you respond? After a few years, how much better did you get from the time you were 16, 17 years old? Did you improve, or did you say, well, we didn’t make it, I’m just going to settle, I’m going to stay the way I am now.’ Hopefully they heard that, and they continue to work hard and get even better.”

The U17 and U15 National team players have a bright future to look forward to, even if this year’s World Cup is out of reach.

Current U15 players like Naughton and Meier, Morgan Andrews, Rachel Price, Maya Theuer, Corey Persson, Danielle Weatherholt and Hayley Dowd, among several others, continue to make strides and are strong candidates to represent the senior U.S. Women’s National Team over the next decade.

And Coach Dickey said that while Americans are disappointed by last week’s loss, the rest of the world should be grateful for Canada’s upset victory.

“The best team doesn’t always win,” he said. “This is truly a terrific bunch of players, and I’m certain that the rest of the nations in the World Cup are happy that we’re not in the tournament.”

In that case, World, enjoy 2010 while you can. Because staying home this summer will only give Team U.S.A. more time to prepare for the big dance in 2012.

And you can bet they’ll be ready to seize the next chance they get.