Back to Normal

Hope Solo's cover on SI

Soccer has gone back to normal, and with it the general interest in the sport as well. For a brief moment in July it seemed like some of America was actually interested. It was even women’s soccer, to boot. But all the while most fans temporarily embraced the ladies of the sport, its detractors shifted their focus from questioning the popularity of the game itself to “should we be interested because it’s women playing?”

Most people didn’t care because they dismiss, ignore or despise the sport. Whether it is the frustrating draws, the silly antics or exuberant, over the top celebrations (post-goal activities resemble James Brown in his heyday having to be helped off his knees while bringing soul to the masses in the sixties) most Americans are clearly not self-identified soccer fans.

But the group (of mostly guys) who wanted to dismiss it because of the fact the participants were female still shows a high disregard for women in sports. Ok, ok. I get the NBA and the WNBA are clearly at different skill levels, and you wouldn’t pit the women in the lingerie league against players from the NFL on a football field, but to not appreciate what happened in the last month for what it is because of gender brought to light a level of sexism in American sports I am clearly uncomfortable with.

Defending the dignity of women’s athletics is an untenable position to take with a group of male friends at the bar, but it’s one I chose to take a few weeks back while the U.S. Women’s National Team was charging toward the FIFA World Cup Final. I also sent out a few tweets regarding a lot of what was occupying my feed through the month-long tournament in Germany. I held my ground. I was a one man gang. But that’s the point. No one agreed with me or just made fun of my point of view.

If any of you men out there have kids, specifically girls, that are active in sports I’d like you to take a moment to tell them after they are done with soccer, volleyball or softball practice that when they grow up a vast majority of people in this country will not fully appreciate the time and dedication they are putting into their chosen sport(s). Hey, this means you, if you took the stance of some of my friends. Sure, when you’re a kid it’s just a game, but even at an early age we understand the competitive nature out there as well. This country is and was supposedly founded on it. And devaluing accomplishments and time served on the practice field because of gender is the truly indefensible stance to be taking.

I’m not here to convince anyone to enjoy the sport of soccer any more than what they can tolerate, and I didn’t really want to get too preachy when it comes to this subject. However, it was something I couldn’t and didn’t want to ignore any longer at the time. When it comes down to it, I guess I would hate to be the dad who could tell his daughter she wasn’t as important as a man just because of she is a she, regardless of what they were doing.