FIFA needs more women
November 21, 2015 6:02 AM Subscribe
Less than half of FIFA’s national federations have girls soccer programs. Those that do exist give a girl less access to facilities, less support, and poorer development pathways than her brother. She will play in competitions with less investment, minimal promotion, and consequently fewer fans than the all-important male versions. Media coverage will amplify this skew, battling age-old preconceptions and making her all but invisible in the mainstream. Administrators preoccupied with the men’s game will struggle to meet her needs. (SLNYT)
"Stabby Wambach" is a sweet name.
posted by josher71 at 6:46 AM on November 21, 2015 [10 favorites]
posted by josher71 at 6:46 AM on November 21, 2015 [10 favorites]
She seethes with rage. Very recently a women's stage was added to the final stage of the Tour de France, but she felt she was being pandered and refused to watch.
This.
She asked curiously "are there any women on the team? No? Well, do they have a separate league for women? Then no thank you."
And this.
You're raising someone who is fantastic ,who is asking all the right questions and rocking the boat that needs rocking.
posted by Fizz at 6:48 AM on November 21, 2015 [20 favorites]
This.
She asked curiously "are there any women on the team? No? Well, do they have a separate league for women? Then no thank you."
And this.
You're raising someone who is fantastic ,who is asking all the right questions and rocking the boat that needs rocking.
posted by Fizz at 6:48 AM on November 21, 2015 [20 favorites]
Mars needs women, too. And the way we're going just may be ahead of some terrestrial organizations in the relatively near future.
posted by sammyo at 6:56 AM on November 21, 2015
posted by sammyo at 6:56 AM on November 21, 2015
Honestly I feel more like she's raising us.
posted by spikeleemajortomdickandharryconnickjrmints at 6:57 AM on November 21, 2015 [7 favorites]
posted by spikeleemajortomdickandharryconnickjrmints at 6:57 AM on November 21, 2015 [7 favorites]
I was in Cote d'Ivoire this summer during the Women's World Cup, and Cote d'Ivoire was one of the only African countries to field a team. It didn't end well for the Ivorian women, but participating was a huge deal - and the guys I was working with, who are full of all sorts of misogyny and sexism, were actually excited and listened to the games. Football is such a big deal that anybody bringing national glory in a football arena is CLEARLY AWESOME. They certainly don't have the resources or support that the men's team does, but it was really nice to see. Some of the village teams have girls playing for them now, too. And, folks were pleased for me when My American Sisters won.
(I haven't done Roller Derby, but if I did I'd want my name to be Jane Badall!)
posted by ChuraChura at 7:00 AM on November 21, 2015 [4 favorites]
(I haven't done Roller Derby, but if I did I'd want my name to be Jane Badall!)
posted by ChuraChura at 7:00 AM on November 21, 2015 [4 favorites]
one of her roller girl names is "Stabby Wambach", after U.S. women's soccer star Abby Wambach, and nobody she talks to knows who that is.
I know who Abby Wambach is!! Tell your awesome daughter that there is a guy in England who knows who Abby Wambach is and loves her roller girl name!
Here's the interesting thing about girls and football - there have been girls playing football for bloody ages. When I was a kid at primary school, back in the early 70s, there were a few girls who liked to play football with the boys. They were called Tomboys back then. The opportunities for them were so severely limited though, and I often wonder what happened to them, whether they got involved in football in some way, at some level, or whether they just gave it up after a point.
The problem has been that, for a long time (and probably still, I don't know as I don't have kids so have no involvement in school stuff) that there were only boys teams. Where I live, at primary (5-10) and high school (10-14) there were (when I was there) only boys football teams. No matter how good a girl was (hello Tara Simmons!! - she was fantastic in goal), she couldn't make the team. This is where the changes need to happen, at school level. If you want to do something about this, talk to your school, get you daughters to tell you about the other girls who want to play football, contact their parents, and then you all go together to the school and say "our daughters want a football team, can you sort one out for them please?"
There were (and still are I believe) county tournaments between the high schools for the boys teams, and you need these for the girls teams as well, so they can develop and improve. Also more female role models in the media that covers football - an issue here is the whole football culture, which is a tricky area. Traditionally football was the working class's sport: On Saturdays the men would go and watch the football, and it was like this for a very long time. So then it started to change, and become a bit more middle class, but there is still a strong "lad" element to the whole thing. Changing this, and having more female presenters and pundits will help, but it is changing the culture without (further) alienating the working class men who love football that will be difficult.
(I am working class, so please, if you want to respond to this comment, do not start slating working class men. Nuanced discussion, please.)
posted by marienbad at 7:25 AM on November 21, 2015 [2 favorites]
I know who Abby Wambach is!! Tell your awesome daughter that there is a guy in England who knows who Abby Wambach is and loves her roller girl name!
Here's the interesting thing about girls and football - there have been girls playing football for bloody ages. When I was a kid at primary school, back in the early 70s, there were a few girls who liked to play football with the boys. They were called Tomboys back then. The opportunities for them were so severely limited though, and I often wonder what happened to them, whether they got involved in football in some way, at some level, or whether they just gave it up after a point.
The problem has been that, for a long time (and probably still, I don't know as I don't have kids so have no involvement in school stuff) that there were only boys teams. Where I live, at primary (5-10) and high school (10-14) there were (when I was there) only boys football teams. No matter how good a girl was (hello Tara Simmons!! - she was fantastic in goal), she couldn't make the team. This is where the changes need to happen, at school level. If you want to do something about this, talk to your school, get you daughters to tell you about the other girls who want to play football, contact their parents, and then you all go together to the school and say "our daughters want a football team, can you sort one out for them please?"
There were (and still are I believe) county tournaments between the high schools for the boys teams, and you need these for the girls teams as well, so they can develop and improve. Also more female role models in the media that covers football - an issue here is the whole football culture, which is a tricky area. Traditionally football was the working class's sport: On Saturdays the men would go and watch the football, and it was like this for a very long time. So then it started to change, and become a bit more middle class, but there is still a strong "lad" element to the whole thing. Changing this, and having more female presenters and pundits will help, but it is changing the culture without (further) alienating the working class men who love football that will be difficult.
(I am working class, so please, if you want to respond to this comment, do not start slating working class men. Nuanced discussion, please.)
posted by marienbad at 7:25 AM on November 21, 2015 [2 favorites]
Swimming is the only sport I know that does this right: while there are men's and women's teams in competition, there is at practice a mixed-gender team that practices together.* In Masters they are scored together, too. But that means the resources are equal -- because they are the same. It also means little boys grow up getting their butts kicked in practice by little girls (who are often faster till puberty kicks in), which has led, in my experience to rather less "omg the girls are so boring and their sport is inferior." So my solution: co-ed teams for kids!
* Sometimes not true at the college level, but only then.
posted by dame at 7:51 AM on November 21, 2015 [2 favorites]
* Sometimes not true at the college level, but only then.
posted by dame at 7:51 AM on November 21, 2015 [2 favorites]
I should note, the meets are often at the same time, with events commingled, so if you are watching one, you are watching the other. A+.
posted by dame at 7:52 AM on November 21, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by dame at 7:52 AM on November 21, 2015 [2 favorites]
FIFA needs more people below the age of eighty.
posted by krautland at 8:27 AM on November 21, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by krautland at 8:27 AM on November 21, 2015 [1 favorite]
Where I live, at primary (5-10) and high school (10-14) there were (when I was there) only boys football teams. No matter how good a girl was (hello Tara Simmons!! - she was fantastic in goal), she couldn't make the team.
The US has solved this problem by passing a law (Title IX) that says that any school that receives federal money has to provide equal accommodations for men and women in all school programs and activities, which does include sports. Enforcement has been slow, but things do keep getting better. The law passed in 1972. When I started junior high (12-14) in the early 1990s, we still did not have a girls' soccer team, but because of Title IX, girls were allowed to play on the boys' team, and some did and were awesome, eventually leading to having our own team.
Now, in the US, girls soccer is at least as big as boys pretty much everywhere, and bigger in some places where American football or lacrosse are bigger sports for boys.
posted by hydropsyche at 9:34 AM on November 21, 2015 [1 favorite]
The US has solved this problem by passing a law (Title IX) that says that any school that receives federal money has to provide equal accommodations for men and women in all school programs and activities, which does include sports. Enforcement has been slow, but things do keep getting better. The law passed in 1972. When I started junior high (12-14) in the early 1990s, we still did not have a girls' soccer team, but because of Title IX, girls were allowed to play on the boys' team, and some did and were awesome, eventually leading to having our own team.
Now, in the US, girls soccer is at least as big as boys pretty much everywhere, and bigger in some places where American football or lacrosse are bigger sports for boys.
posted by hydropsyche at 9:34 AM on November 21, 2015 [1 favorite]
The soccer league my daughter plays in does this partially right.
The practices up until basically puberty (U11, I think) are completely co-ed.
Same coaches, same fields, same drills.
The games themselves are segregated by age range and sex.
Something I vehemently disagree with, why exactly can Kindergarten girls not play with boys? But I digress...
This league is affiliated in some fashion with the local(ish) men's professional league. It is sponsored by the supporters club.
This is in direct contrast to the league affiliated with the city, which I flat out refused to join even though it is far cheaper.
In that league, the girls are completely segregated in both practice and play, from the very beginning.
While in theory, the same resources are available to boys & girls teams, in practice, it is the girls teams that are going begging for coaches, for assistants, and for practice time.
They pulled the same crap during t-ball and, oh the stories I could tell...
I'm not entirely convinced women's sports will ever be on the same economic or financial level as the men, but they don't have to be, just so long as they aren't getting deliberately shafted.
posted by madajb at 10:14 AM on November 21, 2015 [1 favorite]
The practices up until basically puberty (U11, I think) are completely co-ed.
Same coaches, same fields, same drills.
The games themselves are segregated by age range and sex.
Something I vehemently disagree with, why exactly can Kindergarten girls not play with boys? But I digress...
This league is affiliated in some fashion with the local(ish) men's professional league. It is sponsored by the supporters club.
This is in direct contrast to the league affiliated with the city, which I flat out refused to join even though it is far cheaper.
In that league, the girls are completely segregated in both practice and play, from the very beginning.
While in theory, the same resources are available to boys & girls teams, in practice, it is the girls teams that are going begging for coaches, for assistants, and for practice time.
They pulled the same crap during t-ball and, oh the stories I could tell...
I'm not entirely convinced women's sports will ever be on the same economic or financial level as the men, but they don't have to be, just so long as they aren't getting deliberately shafted.
posted by madajb at 10:14 AM on November 21, 2015 [1 favorite]
spikeleemajortomdickandharryconnickjrmints, it's time to start bringing your daughter to meetups.
posted by Songdog at 10:49 AM on November 21, 2015
posted by Songdog at 10:49 AM on November 21, 2015
Heh. To a point I think this also reflects the attitudes of each country towards sport as an whole than just women's football. The american college sports institution, as rotten as it is on the higher echelons, opens the gates to sports to a lot of people that otherwise wouldn't be involved with it, and is quite unique worldwide.
In here, sports are an afterthought or something to keep kids busy - actual school sports are a joke (for instance, I *think* I once was a reserve for a inter-school 5-a-side match, and I'm guessing the only reason that happened was because I said "yes" to something the phys ed teacher asked). There's not a single place in regular walking distance I can bring a ball and kick around a bit at a goal (and I love doing that), and clubs are mostly oriented towards kids. Other than those who started into the serious programs on youth academies (the ones that may lead into professionalism) and sports sciences, most are out of federated sports by their early 20s, and I've seen "manchildren" being thrown at those that stick around despite not being professional league material. Like being an "artist", "actor" or "musician", being an "athlete" just isn't one of those proper jobs, regardless of gender.
Does FIFA and certain federations needs to take better care of the Women's game? They do, because some cases (Spain, Portugal, Argentina and Italy come to mind when it comes to discrepancy between MNFT and WNFT results) hint towards neglect. But don't expect that money will suddenly solve cultural biases against playing sports in adulthood and women in some countries.
posted by lmfsilva at 11:27 AM on November 21, 2015
In here, sports are an afterthought or something to keep kids busy - actual school sports are a joke (for instance, I *think* I once was a reserve for a inter-school 5-a-side match, and I'm guessing the only reason that happened was because I said "yes" to something the phys ed teacher asked). There's not a single place in regular walking distance I can bring a ball and kick around a bit at a goal (and I love doing that), and clubs are mostly oriented towards kids. Other than those who started into the serious programs on youth academies (the ones that may lead into professionalism) and sports sciences, most are out of federated sports by their early 20s, and I've seen "manchildren" being thrown at those that stick around despite not being professional league material. Like being an "artist", "actor" or "musician", being an "athlete" just isn't one of those proper jobs, regardless of gender.
Does FIFA and certain federations needs to take better care of the Women's game? They do, because some cases (Spain, Portugal, Argentina and Italy come to mind when it comes to discrepancy between MNFT and WNFT results) hint towards neglect. But don't expect that money will suddenly solve cultural biases against playing sports in adulthood and women in some countries.
posted by lmfsilva at 11:27 AM on November 21, 2015
The US has solved this problem by passing a law (Title IX) that says that any school that receives federal money has to provide equal accommodations for men and women in all school programs and activities, which does include sports.
Does this mean that US colleges have women's American Football programmes now? I've never seen any reference to that and god I hope they do.
posted by Dysk at 1:48 AM on November 22, 2015
Does this mean that US colleges have women's American Football programmes now? I've never seen any reference to that and god I hope they do.
posted by Dysk at 1:48 AM on November 22, 2015
No, but women can and do play on the men's American football teams, usually as kickers, but there have been women in other positions.
posted by hydropsyche at 3:31 AM on November 22, 2015
posted by hydropsyche at 3:31 AM on November 22, 2015
The US has solved this problem by passing a law (Title IX) that says that any school that receives federal money has to provide equal accommodations for men and women in all school programs and activities, which does include sports.
Does this mean that US colleges have women's American Football programmes now?
Does this mean that US colleges have women's American Football programmes now?
Participation: Title IX requires that women and men be provided equitable opportunities to participate in sports. Title IX does not require institutions to offer identical sports but an equal opportunity to play...posted by Etrigan at 11:41 AM on November 22, 2015 [1 favorite]
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My parents are big into American football and have game parties when they visit. A couple weeks ago they invited us to their hotel room to watch LSU vs Alabama. She asked curiously "are there any women on the team? No? Well, do they have a separate league for women? Then no thank you."
She's recently embraced roller derby, a sport where women thrive, and even that frustrates her because one of her roller girl names is "Stabby Wambach", after U.S. women's soccer star Abby Wambach, and nobody she talks to knows who that is.
posted by spikeleemajortomdickandharryconnickjrmints at 6:35 AM on November 21, 2015 [42 favorites]