The Legacy of Womens Soccer in the United States - Research Paper Example

The Legacy of Women’s Soccer in the United s Introduction Soccer is one of the most popular games which are played all over the world by both men and women. Women’s soccer in US has some legacy of its own; they won the World Cup in 1999, and made the US citizens to follow women’s soccer like they follow the men’s. Although in the 21st century it seems Women’s soccer in US is ruling the world but actually the game had started very late in US than the other rival countries. Today the country is renowned for its participation and competing internationally. In Europe, Women’s leagues started in 1930 and in 1950 the commencement of international competitions took place, but America took a very long time to enroot women’s soccer in the country. In the early years of 80’s, teams of girls in colleges started playing soccer and popularized the game. It was in the year 1985 when the first national squad of women’s soccer was established. It took another ten years to launch National Women’s League for the first time and after the Women’s soccer team won the World Cup in 1999, professional women’s league was introduced in 2001. United States was late to initiate the Women’s Soccer, but as it took off there was no looking back. It had a huge participation in amateur level from the youth and a craze to be the best. This spirit made them victorious both in the World Cup and the Olympics. There was a spirit of vengeance in the team which won two World Cups. Today US dominates the rest of the world in all women’s games and the interest for women’s game grew among sports-lovers along with the media attention. The phenomenal success of women’s soccer has a story behind it1. Earlier organized soccer which is played all over the world was mostly male dominated and women were not used to participate in it, but there is some information about women’s participation which is before the organization of modern soccer. It is believed that there was participation of women in ‘mob’ games, played between neighboring villages, which was suppressed by the government. The information also reveals that in those games use of legs are the main features and they were used to be Rugby/Soccer type games. So, this suppression of women in those days must have some impact on today’s passion that is showed by women in sports of US. The topic of argument among the US officials at that time was whether women should be allowed to play a male-oriented game like soccer or not. These debates got suppressed with the phenomenal success of the women’s soccer team but it caught flame after the jersey controversy in 1999 World Cup. It was believed that women playing a game like soccer would be against the traditional values of the country. There are also different views and opinions on the playing strategies of women’s soccer, but everyone appreciated the success of women’s soccer team of US. The US women’s national soccer team had to go though a long struggling process for its establishment than the European rival teams. Still it managed to formulate the essence of success and achieved the top position in women’s soccer. Establishment of the National Team The women’s soccer team had to go through a long journey in the domestic scenario before it made its presence felt internationally. There was no formal competition being played in US till the middle of the 20th century. Soccer was played by women at that point of time but it was just for fun no serious steps were taken to establish the game for women. In 1951, first organized women’s league was held, four teams participated and they had to play for two seasons. The league was named as the Craig Club Girls Soccer League, after the name of its founder Father Craig of St. Matthew’s Parish of North St. Louis. This tournament is considered as the first milestone that was achieved in the establishment of women’s soccer in US. The women’ soccer in US started to grow from college level initially, as the young students showed a lot of passion and interest for the game. The girls were not allowed to play in the club level at that time due to the male domination of the game. It was also considered as throwing challenge to the society and the traditional values. Thus the sport was not encouraged by US government at that time. In 1972, a new Educational Amendment was passed and there was a Title IX in that amendment which accessed equality in provision among male and females in athletic programs in schools and colleges. This led to the development of women’s soccer in colleges along with other sports programs which were previously male-oriented. There was a dramatic growth in women’ soccer in US after that period. The youth in colleges participated largely to form organized teams and resulted in having inter-college tournaments of women’s soccer. The change was significant, the no. of college teams started increasing in the country with the increase of sponsorship in women’s soccer. The number of teams in soccer for male was 521 in 1981 with only 77 women but with the passing time there was a dramatic change resulting in women’s team increasing to 318 by 1990. With the passage of time, the rankings of the top teams of women’s soccer was established, Central Florida, George Mason, Connecticut, Santa Clara, Notre Dame, Portland, UCLA and Penn State were considered the top teams in the list but North Carolina was the best and unbeatable among the lot. All these teams contained potential players to represent the nation, and were considered to play for the national team. In the later part of 20th century women’s soccer entered the club environment and professionalism. Women’s clubs and leagues became part of United States Amateur Soccer Association (USASA) and there was a rapid growth in amateur leagues which indicated the requirement of a national team of women’s soccer in the country. Although the growth of women’s soccer is phenomenal in US but the European countries had an already established long history of women’s soccer in their region. The performances and growth of amateur leagues in the country built the platform to establish a national team. At that time all major soccer playing nations had their national teams except US. So it was necessary to have a national team. The national team of women’s soccer was formed in 1985 after this long delay. The women’s soccer was still new to the rest of the world except the few practicing nations. The women’s soccer team had a very subdued beginning internationally despite its explosive growth in the domestic scenario2. The women’s national soccer team began their journey with a quick tournament in Jesolo, Italy playing countries like Denmark, England and Italy. Their lack of experience and practice was shown in their poor performance and they were completely ignored by the media. The dismal performance of women’s soccer team broke the moral of the team but soon after that a three match home series brought them back to success. In 1987, the team strength was increased with talented players and a hard schedule to follow, performance was good with wins over some superpowers of the game like, China and Norway. The lack of practice and grouping was still a major concern for the women’s soccer in the country but US had no interest in promoting women’s soccer as they saw it as an exhibition exercise3. Achievements of women’s soccer The women’s soccer was fully established after the announcement of Women’s World Championship by FIFA which was held in 1991in China. This was also known as Women’s World Cup, set a goal for the soccer playing nations. This made the US seriously think about the development of women’s soccer and for the women it was a staircase for showing their skill to the world. In 1991, US had to face the real tough situation for the first time in international women’s soccer with their participation in the World Championship. This time the women team was prepared to face the hard oppositions and battle their way to lift the trophy. The journey of winning the first World Sup was not easy for US women’s team as they had to compete with some of the masters of the game but they somehow achieved the breakthrough. There were some names that emerged as the superstars of women’s soccer after the championship - Akers, Hamm, Chastain, Lilly, Foudy and Jennings. This was the first sanctioned world tournament and was attended with twenty thousand people per game. Although it did not receive media coverage around the world but it had major impact on the women’s athletic programs in US. In 1996, Olympic was held in Atlanta, US and for the first time women’s soccer was introduced in it. Women’s soccer created tremendous buzz among the US citizens. Huge crowd is noticed supporting their respective home team. The poor performance of the men’s team in that Olympic in soccer bent the attention and focus towards the women’s team. The team played very well, gained the gold medal and made the nation proud. These successes of women’s soccer made the US soccer community promote and develop the women’s soccer program in the country. They started the Women’s USA Cup and launched women’s U-21 and U-18 teams to make a pool of future players. Then the most engaging event happened in women’s soccer so far, the Women’s World Cup ’99 which captured the hearts of all Americans. The women’s soccer got all acclamation and found its firm place in sports of US. Their win over China in the Final, beat their previous best achievements and grabbed the attention of the Americans like never before. This time the women’s team had all the media coverage and fan following to support them and the promotional strategies for backup. They were rewarded with their emphatic win. In fact, the Women’s World Cup final of 1999 had beaten the TV ratings of the men’s final of 1994, with equally packed houses. But there was a controversy which affected the triumph of Women’s soccer, Chastain one of the key players who scored the winning goal in the final had taken off her jersey and spanned it in air in front of thousands of audience. This was a controversial act but according to Chastain it was just an unplanned act of expressing her joy. This act also triggered the traditional sentiments of Americans but considering the moment of the spontaneous act it was overlooked 4. In 2000 Sydney Olympics, the women’s soccer team of US entered the tournament with high morals and a winning streak backup. Before the commencement of the Olympics they had won the USA Cup, the Pacific Cup and the CONCACAF Women’s Gold Cup. These wins boosted the expectations of all Americans for their home team. But this time they lost to Norway in a close match and disappointed their fans. This loss showed the need of future players to fill up the vacant places of some key players who retired after the Olympics. After the Olympics, the development program of women’s soccer in US reached its next level and intentions showed of forming a professional women’s league. There was two proposals regarding this and there was a debate. The proposals came from John Hendricks and Major League Soccer (MLS) with the backup of investors and sponsors. The proposal from Hendricks was sanctioned but he had to make partnership deal with MLS to conduct the event. This was done for the betterment of the game and progressive development of women’s soccer in US. This resulted in the formation of Women’s United Soccer Association (WUSA) in 2001 which had created massive impact on the development program. There were eight franchise cities from all over the country to promote young talent with the players from the national team. It was a major event with adequate media support and grabbed all eyes of the nation 5. The 2003 Women’s World Cup was the platform for many veteran players to retire from international sports with victory but they managed to occupy the third place only. Women’s World Cup 2003, which was to be held in China, ultimately happened in US for the last minute withdrawal of China from hosting the event. Fortune changed for women’s soccer in US with their win in the 2004 Olympics which provided the perfect exit stage for many veteran players with their heads high. Lately, the women’s soccer team of US had managed to occupy the third place in 2007 Women’s World Cup but in 2008 Beijing Olympics provided an emphatic win for US over Brazil and getting gold medal6. Controversies and debates The main controversy that blew up regarding women’s soccer in US was oriented towards traditional values which restricted women from playing outdoor team games. The debate was on whether provision should be given to women for playing a male-oriented game like, soccer. This debate has just got suppressed with the phenomenal performance of women’s playing soccer in US but had not died out. The debate gets flamed and starts again whenever any controversial act happens in the game history. Initially the women’s soccer in US was considered as a recreational event to the society and no development program was implemented to backup the progressive growth. The Title IX of the educational amendment covered up the whole issue of the debate, by providing the regulation of equal treatment of boys and girls in the athletic programs in schools and colleges. This gave the women’s soccer the initial growth platform and the game started to be played in college level. Another controversial issue rose when Chastain removed her jersey and spanned it over her head after scoring the winning goal in 1999 Women’s World Cup. Brandi Chastain had to apologize several times for her act but still media focused it making it a morally wrong act. Though this act was seen as a spontaneous celebration by the girl still the controversy remained. Everyone felt that this act is morally wrong and provided wrong massage to global circle about the women’s soccer played in America. There were also some contrasting views that came up with the incident like, removal of jersey by a male player is highly appreciated by the audience whereas the same thing has been so much criticized for a female player7. Recently there was an incident that took place in a college match by a player named, Elizabeth Lambert who pulled the hair of her opponent. This fueled the debate on sports sexism and made the nation over go to different polls organized by the media. The topic of the polls is whether people find the ‘Cat fight’ among players to be sexy. The competitiveness in women’s soccer is increasing rapidly along with the increase in violence in the game. Players are desperate to win and for the sake of this they are becoming violent on the field giving example to the youth who are their followers and future of women’s soccer8. There are other debatable issues that flow around with passage of time which are not very serious ones. For example, it is often argued whether the women’s soccer be able to match up or over cross the popularity of men’s soccer. These type of debates are never ending doesn’t have much impact on the development or progress of the game. In US, due to the phenomenal success of women’s soccer, the expectations of media and fans from female players are very high compared to their expectations from the male players. This sort of differentiation is not fair and the expectation level should be same for both. The media should understand this and treat accordingly9. Conclusion The development and success story of women’s soccer in US seems to be never ending. With their subsequent victories and growth it has been a frustration for the male soccer players whose growth rate is comparatively slow. Women’s soccer had registered a firm place in hearts of all Americans with their success in the global platform. It is quite astonishing that it took only mere fifteen years for women’s soccer to create their firm place in the hearts and minds of every American. Moreover the national team’s formation happened so late when all the other soccer playing European nations had already established national teams for any global competition. The encouraging fact for women’s soccer in US is its brighter future with the success of their development program10. The controversial issues are all suppressed lately but were not totally eliminated and may come up with any related incident in the course of the game. These types of incidents ignite the past controversies and are followed with new debates. There are some debates which slow down with time and some which remain forever, in case of women’s soccer in US the major debates are of former type. Controversies and debates are part of every sport but the major focus should be on the progress of the sport. In this respect one can say, women’s soccer had shown lot of promise and is inspiring to all nations. The women’s soccer program has the purpose to organize all the fragmented pieces of the game and assemble the components that is, the college programs, the club programs, the national team and finally WUSA. To sum up the whole issue it can be said that women’s soccer, despite its suppression and controversies at the initial stage had come up with glorifying success and is now considered as inspiration for all soccer playing nation. Bibliography 1. Litterer, Dave, February 9, 2005, “Womens Soccer History in the USA: An Overview”, The USA Soccer History Archives,. Available at: http://homepages.sover.net/~spectrum/womensoverview.html 2. WNT, 2009, US Soccer blogs, US Soccer.com,. Available at: http://www.ussoccer.com/Teams/US-Women.aspx 3. Rev. Rus Cooper-Dowda, n.d, “About the USA Womens Soccer Team Winning The World Cup”, Women’s history. Available at: http://womenshistory.about.com/library/weekly/ucwomenssoccer.htm 4. Associated Press, Nov. 22, 2009, “Soccer hair-pulling fuels debate over sexism”, NBC sports. Available at: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/34088873/ns/sports-soccer/ 5. Rogers. Martin, Jul 10, 2009, “Reliving U.S. women’s soccer’s greatest day”, yahoo sports. Available at: http://sports.yahoo.com/soccer/news?slug=ro-usawomen071007&prov=yhoo&type=lgns 6. Keane. Brielle, Nov 24, 2009, “Bad girls? Or passionate athletes?”, Northstar online,. Available at: http://psmacsrv1.sd203.org/groups/northstar/weblog/eb53c/Bad_girls___Or_passionate_athletes_.html 7. Williams. Jeans, 2008, “A beautiful game: international perspectives on womens football”, Berg Publishers, 38-40. Available at: http://books.google.com/books?id=VuIp04RvKX8C&dq=women%27s+soccer+usa%2Barguments&source=gbs_navlinks_s 8. Rogers. Le.Grove,2009, Women’s soccer news-result-schedule, Girl’s soccer world online. Available at: http://www.womensoccer.com/ Read More