Day 39 – Women’s soccer
Lesson
Topic Point: Some of this manual is gender neutral, while other components speakdirectly to the men’s game as this summer is the Men’s World Cup. The Women’sgame is equally exciting but carries a different history due to lack ofopportunity. There is now some investment and attention being paid to women’ssoccer. The argument that women’s sports are not as entertaining or exciting, orthat the female athletes are not as skilled as their male counterparts, issimply not true. When offered the opportunity and the stage, we see the gamesare as exciting as the men’s side. Further, investment in the people results ingrowth – more players with more skill and talent develop. While critics willpoint at some lopsided American victories in past World Cups, the gap willnarrow as other countries invest in women’s athletics. American women’s socceris closer to their ceiling compared to some countries around the world. Overthe past two and a half decades, after women’s soccer grabbed America’sattention in 1999 with Brandi Chastian’s penalty kick winner and celebration, therest of the world is catching up to us.
There have officially been nine FIFAWomen’s World Cups with 5 different champions (USA – 4; Germany -2; Norway,Japan, Spain – 1). The top 4 finishers (technically a potential of 36 differentcountries) represent 13 countries. That may not seem impressive, but bycomparison, let’s look at other competitions:
· In the last 9 FIFA Men’s WorldCup competitions, we have 6 different champions with 17 different countriesmaking the Final 4
· Super Bowl over the last 10years – 6 different champions
· Super Bowl over the last 20years – 13 different champions
· Super Bowl over the last 30years – 14 different champions
· NCAA Division I footballchampion (20 years) – 10 different champions
The Men’s World Cup, Super Bowl, and NCAADivision I football have a much longer history compared to the FIFA Women’sWorld Cup and, despite that, we can see a demarcation of teams that have abetter chance of winning a championship. It is hard to say what the futureholds for the FIFA Women’s World Cup. There may be greater equity ofopportunity for countries, other than the 6 that have won, to hoist the Women’sWorld Cup trophy. Time will tell; however, it cannot be stated that there isless competition in women’s sports compared to men’s sports.
Aside from national team, the structure ofwomen’s club soccer is following that of the men’s game, with some variations.The United States technically has two Tier 1 leagues, though one just formed in2024 and time will reveal its sustainability. There are 16 teams in theNational Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) and 9 teams in the USL Super League.England has two tiers (Women’s Super League and Women’s Championship) with atotal of 23 teams. Spain has two tiers with a total of 30 teams; Germany hastwo tiers with 28 teams; and France two tiers with 24 teams.
Soccer-related note: There were non-FIFA sanctioned women’s world tournaments held datingback to 1970. Continental tournaments were held sporadically through the 1970sand 1980s. Ellen Wille is credited with opening the door for women in footballwith her speech to the FIFA Congress in 1986. In 1988, the FIFA Women’sInvitation Tournament was held as a trial run to determine the feasibility of aWomen’s World Cup. Held in China, average attendance exceeded 20,000 spectatorsand the tournament was deemed successful. Finally, in 1991, the FIFA Women’sWorld Cup was held.
American Sports comparison: Professional female athletes existed as early as the 1700s (boxing).A professional women’s soccer team was formed in England in 1917. Women startedplaying professional golf in the 1930s and tennis in 1970. Sustainedprofessional team sports for women started as early as 1943 (baseball duringWWII), and the first professional women’s basketball league was formed in 1978.In the late 1990s, women’s team sports and leagues developed sustainedtraction.
1996 – WNBA (basketball)
1999 – NWHL, followed by CWHL, and finallyPWHL (ice hockey)
2001 – WUSA, followed by WPSL, and finallyNWSL (soccer)
2004 – Fastpitch softball
2009 – WFA (American Football)
Interactive:
Here you can find links to the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA), the National Women’s Soccer Legue (NWSL), and the Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL). You may be surprised, particularly within the soccer league, the number and distribution of teams right here in the United States.
Also, you can find links to English Women’s Football and the Spanish Liga F. Notice the number of teams in the English Football Association, and the tiers that are very similar to the men’s English Football League. The Women’s league has the English Women’s Super League (equivalent of the EPL), Women’s Championship, and Women’s National League (featuring six divisions) totaling 94 teams!
https://www.thefa.com/womens-girls-football/leagues-and-competitions/womens-competitions-and-leagues
https://www.laliga.com/en-GB/futbol-femenino/standing
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