The most popular sport in the world is also a very male-dominated sport. Soccer has billions of viewers and billions of fans, all tuning in worldwide. While men’s soccer is extremely popular, adored, and obsessed by many, women’s soccer hasn’t reached that sort of attention just yet.
In this post, we’ll be exploring how women’s soccer has grown and the obstacles that hinder the sport from being as popular as men’s soccer, and we’ll also look at probable solutions to counter these issues.
Growth: How Women’s Soccer Came To Be
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Moving on, let’s dive in. You should know women’s soccer hasn’t been around for so long. Fun facts:
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The first recorded game in women’s soccer dates back to 1895.
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The first FIFA Women’s World Cup was in 1991.
Women’s soccer has only been around for a few decades, and it started as something less serious and more entertaining. But, women soccer players started competing seriously, and it started to gain attention, mostly in North America and Europe.
Now FIFA Women’s World Cup is held every four years. So, even if women’s soccer still faces issues, it has come a long way from its conception. As in its rise, many professional leagues have been created.
Present Day
In modern times, FIFA Women’s World Cup has garnered millions of fans and has gained more popularity and participation. More countries and more teams are joining the tournament. The top women’s soccer clubs are also competing at international level competitions. The play quality has also improved throughout the years.
Challenges: The Obstacles Hindering The Sport
Women’s soccer became recognized as a global and official sport. However, it faces many challenges that hinder it from growing and being accepted on an even more global level. What are they?
Funding
Women’s soccer does not get as much funding as men’s soccer, which is one of the main challenges hindering its growth. With more resources, women’s soccer could most likely improve, not just in terms of popularity but in terms of play quality and skill as well.
Less funding also means lower salaries for women players, that’s why they earn much less than male players. Less funding also affects the working conditions of women players. Better salaries and working conditions might motivate athletes to become better players, but so far, this is still a substantially large challenge that needs to be addressed.
Media Coverage
The sport doesn’t get as much exposure as traditional soccer, so global exposure to fans and potential investors is limited. The lack of visibility also directly affects the players' chance of getting commercial deals and endorsement deals, which could further push them into their careers.
Societal Barriers
Culturally-imposed norms and societal barriers are also reasons why women’s soccer is hindered from growing bigger. There are still too many countries that uphold toxic, if not archaic, beliefs on women’s role in society. Soccer, in these countries, is regarded as a “male-exclusive” sport. Thus women are discouraged from participating and starting a serious career in soccer. Unfortunately, many countries are still not progressive and open-minded enough to consider the fact that a sport can be enjoyed and played by both genders.
A Lack Of Infrastructure
Many women’s soccer programs don’t have access to good-quality coaching, equipment, and training facilities which can improve play quality if it was made more accessible. This most definitely affects play quality and morale. Perhaps, in a few years, more investors and sponsors will take women’s soccer more seriously and be incentivized to sponsor more resources.
Women’s soccer is still young, so the reason for many of these challenges might potentially be because of that fact.
Lower Salaries
Even top-earning players like Alex Morgan get paid way less than their male equivalents; while professional male players earn millions, women are still in the six figures. While it’s true that men and women perform differently because of natural biological factors, which naturally make most men more athletic, women play their best and do their part.
These women still train hard and become the very best athletes they can be to reach the top. Therefore their efforts should be recognized, and pay should be performance-based without going into the grimy details of comparing men's and women’s athleticism. Men and women are made differently, so the results they give will be different. Higher salaries are always a great catalyst for more motivation, and higher salaries would also attract more talent.
Brainstorming: Possible Solutions
More Funding
If women’s soccer had more funding from the government, company sponsorships, and so on, playing conditions, salaries, and better resources could be provided for the athletes. This leads us to our next point.
Increased Media Coverage
If media coverage were increased, this could lead to more sponsorship opportunities, as well as funding from potential investors. And by attracting more fans and gaining more viewers, the sport could make more profit as well.
Incentives For Participation
Outreach programs that encourage, promote, and persuade more women to join women’s soccer could help increase participation. Another incentive would be to educate people more about women’s soccer. This could help break archaic biases and pave a more accepting future.
Final Thoughts
We hope this article has helped you become more informed about women’s soccer. The sport still faces many obstacles that it must overcome, but hopefully, it will be able to emerge as a more accepted sport and will get the funding and exposure it deserves.
