I have previously written a number of blog posts here about gender related differences and issues in the game of soccer, whether it be about the role of gender in coaching, barriers to women getting into coaching or debunking some of the myths and stereotypes that are associated with women's soccer ( and women's sport in general). Two of those prior posts were specifically related to some of the inequalities that exist between the two, you can access them via these links
womens-vs-mens-soccer.html biggest-inequalities-facing-female-athletes.html Most recently I also posted something related to the fact that while as someone who has worked in female soccer for close to 30 years now, while I might have witnessed some of the gender related bias and discrimination that is associated with women's sports, as a male I can never full understand or relate to what a female athlete has to go through. You can read this article via this link maybe-we-can-relate-and-understand-but-we-can-never-really-know.html I wanted to come back to the topic from a slightly different angle, a more wide ranging social evaluation about factors that are faced by women's soccer globally and that present barriers to it reaching levels anywhere near the men's game. If we look back at women's soccer starting with the 2015 World Cup, there is much recorded evidence of attendance figures and viewership numbers steadily increasing. This trend has continued through the 2016 Olympics ( granted that this was influenced by being the Olympics), the 2017 Women's Euro, Women's Champions League games, and had trickled down into many of the major domestic leagues. The new NWSL franchise, Utah Royal, sold out their stadium with over 21,000 in attendance for the franchises inaugural home opener. There are further examples which all put together are a testament to the growing popularity and global power of women’s soccer. However, for significant parts of the world, girls soccer teams are scant and female players face discrimination and harassment, so it's important that this enthusiasm be tempered with the stark reality, for many of the world’s women, playing soccer is a distant dream. There are many barriers to female involvement in soccer ( and sport), including time pressures, body image concerns, disapproval among some cultural groups, family responsibilities and financial cost. Public policy needs to address each of these issues and more, both in sport and its more informal physical counterpart, exercise. Across the Middle East, Africa, Latin America and Asia, millions of women face legal, cultural, and religious barriers that forbid them from entering the pitch. Even in countries where there are no formal restrictions, women often face death threats, accusations of unfeminine behavior, and heckling and catcalling from strangers on the sidelines. In some countries, women are even forbidden from entering soccer stadiums just to watch. In Middle Eastern countries including Yemen, Oman, Iran, and Saudi Arabia, emerging women’s national teams confront religious challenges to their participation. Clerics in Saudi Arabia have said that female sports constitute “steps of the devil” toward immortality. Egyptian women report that family members are often the ones to keep girls off the field, telling them that soccer is forbidden in Islam. Afghan women players have received threatening text messages. In some African countries, women are effectively kept off the field by the lack of sports bras and sanitary napkins, as well as financial unwillingness to support them. Ugandan women’s under-20 soccer team, for example, never even made it to the World Cup—their government pulled them from competing at the last hour, citing lack of funds. When women athletes do make it onto the field, they often confront an onslaught of opinions on how they should—or shouldn’t—dress. In countries with hot temperatures, players are often forced to cover up their wrists and legs. In Iran, Singapore, France and elsewhere, women wearing the hijab are not allowed to play. FIFA has played a major part in this unfairness—until 2012, the organization banned headscarves. In South America, the pressure can go the other way. In Brazil, where only about 1% of soccer players are women, team owners have tried to sexualize female footballers, issuing skimpy uniforms as a tactic to attract crowds. In what is known as one of the world’s most soccer-loving nations, the law kept women out of soccer until 1979 because it was “incompatible with female nature.” Funding also factors into these unfair practices, fairly recently U.S. women's players were in conflict with the US Federation concerning compensation when on national team duty. In 2015, the U.S. women’s team received a total prize of about $2 million for winning the World Cup, less than a fourth of what the men’s team received for placing 27th in 2014. In many of the domestic leagues, aside from the very top players, some women soccer pros are paid at levels below the poverty line. Ahead of the 2015 World Cup, a group of women including various influential top players, unsuccessfully sued FIFA over the artificial turf that they were forced to play on. The fact remains that men refuse to play on fake grass, and that no major competition in men's soccer in played on turf. This is another example that the decision was a “blatant demonstration of FIFA not placing the women side by side with men.” Sexism around women’s soccer exists in Western countries, too, where women’s soccer has only recently been embraced. A 1921 Football Association edict in the U.K. banned women’s football for 50 years. More recently, lingering sexism reared its head again last week after the association tweeted that the women’s team, which placed third in the World Cup, would go back to “being mothers, partners and daughters” upon their return. Much has been made of soccer as the great global equalizer, a common passion that crosses the barriers of culture, ethnicity and language. With a patch of dirt and a ball, young boys from the shantytowns and affluent neighborhoods alike play the same game. Soccer has an almost myth-making ability to transcend identity and unite the world. So why let gender be the remaining barrier? Despite restrictions, more women around the world are taking to the field—and that’s good not just for women but for everyone. Soccer can also play a role in reducing obesity and smoking, encouraging teamwork, and increasing confidence. FIFA can be an ally in this—the organization just issued a report on women in soccer, pointing to the urgent need for funding, benefits of increasing the number of licensed players and competitions, and the need to boost the number of female coaches—now only 7% in women’s soccer. When the US women's team won the World Cup, probably the most enduring image from that final game and perhaps the tournament as a whole was Brandi Chastain having whipped of her jersey in celebration. It was the first women's competition to get a significant amount of coverage on TV and full stadiums ( perhaps aided by the fact the US won on American soil). It showed the world that women could be powerful, strong, determined, and capable of guiding their own destinies, too. While in the years since, women players are more appreciated for their achievements on the field and not for how they look, it still remains an issue. As someone involved in soccer, I am somewhat better placed to have seen or know about the barriers related to soccer. As a fan of the game, at all levels and both genders, I seek out information and want to keep myself abreast of the realities that exist outside of North America. I am curious by nature and with today's ability to easily access worldwide information, it is easier to be in touch with those involved in women's sport around the globe. The barriers that impact global soccer and not unique to just one sport but exist across all sports. Besides the religious and cultural barriers I stated earlier, there still remain some fundamental societal issues which impact female sports across the board and globally. High-end sport mostly involves watching well-paid men playing other men on behalf of sport organizations run by men. What are the prospects for greater equality in this key area of cultural life? Sport has historically operated to define masculinity and femininity. Male excellence has been encouraged and even demanded but for women, especially in sports involving contact and muscularity, it still tends to be treated with suspicion. Enhancing girls' and women's participation in sport, which is below that of boys and men, is an important area of social and cultural policy. This is not only a matter of promoting good health, but also of 'cultural citizenship' and the right to take part fully in social life. For many years, women's sport advocates have tried to redress this imbalance by getting more women involved and enabling some to carve out professional careers in which they get paid to play, rather than the other way round. But supporting sport is not only a government responsibility given the enormous commercial involvement of media companies and corporate sponsors. These developments make commercial as well as sociological sense – the men's sport market is saturated and women are still under-represented as 'producers' and consumers. I won't go into too much detail on this specific topic can you can refer to a recent blogpost on the subject via this link womens-sports-the-untapped-market.html It is crucial, though, that the price of getting attention is not, as so often before, emphasis on the sexual attractiveness of female athletes. There is ample room for women to engage with sport at all levels, from playing, coaching and administrative roles This involvement goes far beyond the traditional nurturing roles of making refreshments and providing taxi services. Modern society is changing, traditional barriers are falling, so why not finally recognize female soccer and sports in general for what they truly are.... not a watered down version of the male equivalent but a different yet just as exciting and competitive version of the world's beautiful game.
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AuthorAfter many years of coaching at various levels and with different teams, I thought I would share some of my experiences and thoughts about coaching. Archives
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