2023 World Cup Coverage
Why does language in sports matter?
What this clip is showing is a HUGE problem in sports across the board - in this clip we see it in tennis, but I’m gonna talk a little bit about soccer because the World Cup is going on right now.
Whether it’s intentional or not, the language that we’re using to talk about sports is erasing, ignoring or completely forgetting about women’s accomplishments.
If you watch this creator’s video before this one, she’s talking about when Ronaldo was credited with being the first person to score in five World Cups which is admittedly remarkable, an amazing feat. However, he was actually the third person to accomplish it because Marta from Brazil and Christine Sinclair from Canada both scored in the 2019 World Cup and became the first and second person to accomplish it. This creator also has a video from 2021 when Ronaldo was credited as breaking the record for the most international goals scored when, in fact, at that time there were SEVEN women had already scored more international goals than him.
Even as recently as two days ago, a Canadian sportscaster was claiming that Canada’s single goal in their match the most amazing moment in Canadian soccer history - while he was sitting next to Janine Beckie, who just last summer earned an Olympic gold medal for the Canadian soccer team.
And the examples are really endless. I mean, just think about: this World Cup is advertised as just that - THE World Cup. But if you think about on the women’s side, the tournaments are advertised as the women’s World Cup. Domestically, we have MLS - Major League Soccer - and we have the NWSL - National Women’s Soccer League.
Let’s be perfectly clear. The language that we are using in sports MATTERS. When you forget the accomplishments of women, you are telling men and women that men are the default. That they are the presumed athletes, and women are tagging along. That women should be grateful to have any kind of platform whatsoever.
Well I am not grateful. I am pretty pissed off.
It’s not the World Cup and the Women’s World Cup. It’s not soccer and women’s soccer. It’s not sports and women’s sports.
Men playing sports should NOT be the presumed default and women the exception.
About the Project.
Listen up! There are just 200 days until the biggest event of the year: The 2023 World Cup! The Men’s World Cup is done, over with, congrats to Messi and Argentina but now we need to move on to the main event.
I’m Coach Mat and I’m gonna be helping you learn everything you could possibly need to know about women’s soccer ahead of this summer. I’ve been a fan of soccer, football, the beautiful game, whatever you wanna call it since I was like 4 years old and it’s my mission to make everyone else to love it as much as I do.
I feel like one barrier to people following women’s sports as actively as they should is that people don’t feel excited about them! And I think that’s because we’re missing a lot of context for the games, especially considering how many years coverage of women’s soccer was suppressed. So, I’m hoping to give you all the history, drama and excitement of women’s soccer that’s always been part of the game, but has been missing in how we talk about it.
Even if you hate sports, I encourage you to stick around - because I’m gonna change your mind
One day, the world will be cheering as loudly for its women’s teams as for its men's…at least, that’s the goal.
So! Lace up your boots, follow along and comment if there’s any questions that you want answered!
World Cup Preview.
Today, let’s kick off with a little bit about the logistics about the upcoming 2023 World Cup!
The tournament will be kicking off in Auckland, New Zealand on July 20 and will end one month later in Sydney, Australia on August 20.
This is the 9th-ish installment of the World Cup, but that’s a bit fuzzy and I can explain why in another video if you guys want
The tournament was expanded this year to feature 32 teams, upping from the 24 teams who played in the last tournament and nearly tripling the 12 teams who played in the very first tournament.
There will be 64 games played throughout the month in 9 cities and in 10 stadiums. This is the first time the tournament will be held across 2 countries.
We’ll of course see some fixtures of the World Cup like my beloved US Women’s National Team, as well as rivals Norway and Sweden, but we’ll also see some newcomers like Ireland, Vietnam and Zambia!
The stage is set, the clock is ticking and we’ve got a lot more to cover before the games begin so follow along and as always, comment if there’s any questions that you want answered!
History of Women’s Soccer.
Women’s soccer is no stranger to adversity. From its inception, the sport has faced incredible hurdles in its pursuit of universal recognition.
In one of the earliest matches, held all the way back in 1881 between Scotland and England, many players competed under pseudonyms and the game ended when the crowd chased them off the pitch.
More than a decade later, another attempt was made. Two women, Florence Dixie and Nettie Honeyball (another pseudonym) founded the British Ladies Football Club in late 1894.
They set out with the intent to provide a space for women to play football, as well as a means to earn money. Though the idea of women making money from sport enraged many people, public interest in the “lady footballers” was huge, and for their first match in 1895, nearly 10,000 tickets were sold.
All too soon, the women began to face serious backlash, so the first attempt to popularize women’s soccer folded. But it was only 20 years before another real attempt was made.
Banning Women’s Soccer.
After years of sporadic bursts in popularity, women’s soccer really began gaining momentum during the first world war. With the men sent to war, women were finding new places out of the home - and one of those places was the football pitch.
Women began to play soccer consistently, and multiple international matches were held. Even domestically, games frequently earned more than 25 thousand spectators.
One of the biggest matches, held on Boxing Day in 1920, was attended by 53,000 fans. That’s more than most modern day Premier League games.
The success of these matches was a double edged sword. The FA banned women from playing on league grounds, effectively banning women’s soccer and stated, “their strong opinion that the game of football is quite unsuitable for females and ought not to be encouraged.”
So when people dismiss women’s soccer today, this is the legacy they follow.