Having spent almost 30 years solely coaching women's soccer, I am most certainly biased but I do feel it gives me a certain expertise to comment on the main differences between women's and men's soccer because at the core I am a fan of the game on w whole.
I knew most of what I am sharing below, but what I didn't know, I learned through research, which I would hope that those who minimize the value of the women's game would do. Although the rules of the game are the same, the way that men and women play soccer differs on a many levels. Women's soccer matches tend to be slower but often more direct in their play. There is less playing up on every foul, congregating around the referees to try and influence calls and the awarding of cards. Unfortunately, women's soccer doesn't receive nearly the same media coverage as men's soccer. I have seen some statistics that show, for every twenty articles on men's soccer, women get maybe one. Which seems ridiculous since at least at the international level, Canadian and US women's soccer have a much more successful track record than men's. The U.S. women's national team has won two World Cups and four Olympic gold medals and Canada has won bronze at the last two Olympics. Canadian men's soccer has... well no need to go into details. Sorry to burst everyone's bubble, but even as a starting soccer player for NCAA Division I, chances are players won't be a household name unless they have accomplished something at the international level.. Unlike D1 football or basketball, games won't be playing to sellout stadiums or have your games broadcast on network TV (unless it's the championship and even then maybe on ESPN 4) All of the above has led to some myths related to women's soccer which just don't hold any water. - Women’s football is not global Women’s football is one of the fastest growing sports in the world. It is a myth to suggest that women’s football is not global for it has a growing presence in more than 138 countries. The FIFA Women’s World Cup is the largest sporting event in the world for women. Since the USA beat Norway 2–1 in the 1991 , the first FIFA women's world cup, the competition has doubled in size. While 12 teams competed in 1991, 24 teams, from six confederations participated in the 2015 World Cup held in Canada: USA, Costa Rica, Mexico, Colombia, Ecuador, Brazil, England, France, Spain, Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland, Norway, Sweden, Nigeria, Cameroon, Cote d’Ivoire, Australia, New Zealand, Thailand, China, Japan, Republic of Korea and the hosts. In development terms, since 2008 FIFA has targeted grassroots development programs in many non traditional areas where women's soccer was not overly present. It is serving to break stereotypes and empower women world wide. - Women’s football is not popular FIFA has stated that more then 30 million females are now playing soccer with obviously the US leading the way. While it would seem women's hockey has been around longer, only US and Canada have won every major competition, while in soccer, the parity is spread out among many countries and professional leagues exist in many countries. - Women’s football is new If the purpose of history is to disprove myths then one should research history properly to really see how long the women's game has been around. There are reports of women's soccer being played as far back as the 18th century and leagues for young girls and women have existed in various forms since then although often via school leagues. The modern game really came to people perceptions after the 1999 Word Cup and Brandi Chastain's winning PK ( and something about a shirt) but international women's soccer really started to take shape in the late 1980s The first FIFA Women’s World Cup was held in 1991 as indicated earlier and subsequent hosts have included Sweden (1995), the USA (1999 and 2003), China (2007) and Germany (2011) and of course Canada (2015). There are also U17 and U20 World Cups held every two years. The WWC tournament has been won twice by Germany and the USA, once each by Japan and Norway. Soccer is a global game and if females represent half of the global population, it stands to reason the women's game can also be part of it. But just one person's opinion.
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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
January 2023
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