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USA Women's Soccer: The 2007 send-off seriesRiding the wave of excitement following their reclaiming of the Algarve Cup in Portugal last March, and with the FIFA Women's World Cup in China a scant two months off, the USA Women's National Soccer Team has been busy honing its skills with a series of friendly (exhibition) matches in preparation for the upcoming tough international competition. With victories over Denmark, Mexico, Canada, China, Brazil and the ever-challenging Norway, the team has its sights set on its next opponent, Japan. The match is slated for 7:00 p.m. on July 28 at Spartan Stadium in San Jose, CA. It will be broadcast live on ussoccer.com's MatchACCESS.
With a very young, but not raw, squad, these athletes are tasked with carrying on the proud tradition of winning that was set forth by the likes of Mia Hamm, Julie Foudy, Michelle Akers and a boatload of others. I was in Florida visiting the Kennedy Space Center in '99 when our women took their second World Cup. Gosh, I don't know which was more thrilling: witnessing some of the space station being built or following the nonstop soccer coverage. Maybe I'm just being nostalgic, but it seemed like the team became overnight darlings of the media. There were front sports page articles extolling the players' tenacity, ability and winning ways. I think that the winning part was what initially won over the presses. Everybody loves a winner!
One of the young players to keep an eye on is Carli Lloyd, Algarve Cup MVP. Lloyd's come a long way since the disappointment of not making the 2004 Olympic team. She debuted the following year in '05 in a match against Ukraine. Her four-goal-in-four-game performance at the Algarve Cup, including one in the 2-0 championship match against Denmark, highlighted a stellar week for the up-and-coming midfielder.
Another young player to watch out for is forward Heather O'Reilly. No stranger to the spotlight, she was the youngest player (then a mere pup at 19) on the 2004 gold medal–winning Olympic team and was the 2007 Honda Award winner after being voted the best collegiate female soccer player while at the University of North Carolina. But back to the '04 Games. O'Reilly wasn't just learning at the feet of the masters. In the semifinal game against Germany, with the score tied 1-1, she took a pass from Mia Hamm and scored the winning goal. Unbelievable.
This past June saw the 35-year anniversary of the enactment of Title IX. In a nutshell, Title IX is a federal law that mandates gender equity in sports at institutions that receive federal funding. Title IX compliance is far from perfect, and indeed some universities have found themselves in hot water in recent years (Vanderbilt, Fresno State). But as flawed as Title IX might be, I shudder to think where we'd be without it. These women played on high school teams that in 1972 did not exist. They were given the opportunity to compete in a sport that they love. And you have to love soccer if you're going to be on a team, because the training is brutal — but the payoff can be glorious. Just ask Mia Hamm, Briana Scurry or Heather O'Reilly what it was like to stand atop the podium.
Submitted by on July 26, 2007 - 11:04am. |
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News, Reviews & Commentary on Lesbian and Bisexual women in Entertainment and the Media
Will Be Watching...
Oh...and yes...women's sports have come a long way in the past few decades.
Thanks Jennifer!
I can't wait!
What a treat to see an article about women's soccer! When I was a kid playing soccer, there was almost no soccer to watch on tv period, let alone women's soccer. I remember being a little girl with ambitions to play soccer in the Olympics, only to be told that women's soccer wasn't an Olympic sport. :( So it's hard for me to believe sometimes how much things have changed. I can watch women's soccer on ESPN, the Women's World Cup exists, and all the games are broadcast on tv, and maybe the WUSA will start up again sometime in the not-too-distant future.
But since this is a site about media, I can admit that the most exciting aspect of the growing prominence of women's sports was watching that Gatorade commercial with Mia Hamm and Michael Jordan back in 1999, with the Irving Berlin song "Anything You Can Do I Can Do Better." The commercial shows Mia Hamm beating Michael Jordan at sprinting, basketball, soccer, everything. To me, this is amazing, even comparing a female athlete to a male one, and then having the female athlete coming out on top. That felt like a huge cultural shift to me.
--abzug
Visit http://www.badgirlsannex.com!
Keep an eye on Brasil
Our squad just beat the us for 5x0 on the Panamerican games, 10 minutes ago, and won the gold medal!
(Yaaaaaaaaayyyyyyy Brasil, we are not only biters!!!!)
PanAm Games
I wonder what US squad they sent to the PanAm games, given that the national team is in training for the World Cup. I guess the same question could be asked about the Brazilian team. I was at the US-Brazil game last month at Giants Stadium, which was a pretty good game, but not as competitive on either side as I would have expected. But congrats to Brazil for winning the gold at the PanAm games!
--abzug
Visit http://www.badgirlsannex.com!
Under 20 Squad
nostalgia attack
All this sports talk is cracking open my long packed away memories. I was on a sports team (softball or soccer) from 5 yrs old to 19 yrs old. Then I just quit sports cold turkey and walked away. My excuse was I was tired of having coaches running my life; but really I was just a lazy ass that wanted to party.
This makes me miss it. I think about joining a local women's soccer league all the time, but they are so damned competitive. Put me in a good board game or card game and I'm as competitive as the next pirate. I'll take ya down, and your little dog too. However, I never had that killer edge in sports. Probably, a good reason to walk away. Because really, soccer training IS brutal as stated by Jenn. I did have some passionate friendships come out of those years though.
I feel a viewing of A League of Their Own coming on. Time for the kleenex. I cry through the credits everytime. Damn Madonna and her sentimental fare.
The soccer field indeed "used to be my playground".
uhm.. actually.. u lost....
media darlings
"There were front sports page articles extolling the players' tenacity, ability and winning ways. I think that the winning part was what initially won over the presses. Everybody loves a winner!"
You know, I'm not sure that it was just that they won it all. There was just something about that team. People were already really fired up about them going into the gold-medal match. I was an editor in big newspaper sports department at the time, and while the guys I worked with weren't against women's sports by any means, they didn't really care about them either. But the whole joint shut down to watch that match, and when Michelle Akers staggered off the field, these guys got all misty-eyed. The only other time I saw everyone in the office gathered around the TV, open-mouthed, to watch a women's sports event was in 2000, when Jackie Stiles dropped 41 on Duke in the Sweet 16. I think that even if the USA had lost to China, they still would have received a lot of attention.
Having said that, I do think that the fact that they won, and the way they won (PK drama! sports bra!), made all the difference in their elevation to cultural-icon status, as opposed to being 15-minute cereal-box celebs.
After not playing soccer
After not playing soccer this past year in school, I've not been sure about playing this coming year or not. Lately I've been leaning towards it and I think this just confirmed that I want to play again. Thanks!
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...a million hours left to think of you and think of that...
On the subject of the Pan
On the subject of the Pan Ams, the US only sent their U-20s, which explains their performance - they aren't exactly at the calibre of the WNT.
I've been keeping track of the send-off series, and while the team has done well and has been on a winning streak for a while now, they seem to lack any fire. In their game against arch-rival Norway, the game was dry and had no tension that used to define the games between them. Perhaps losing, or even a tied game, will give them the willingness to fight for gold in the WWC.
And there have been other young players that have played amazingly. Lindsay Tarpley and Lori Chalupny have really stepped up along with Natasha Kai. Without them, how would have Abby Wambach and Kristine Lilly have taken all those shots on net? And Stephanie Lopez has really come into her own in defence after filling in after Mitts' injury.
I'm glad Title IX has given women in the states a chance to let football flourish as a sport. Maybe now the US can catch up with the rest of the world's football mania come major tournament time.
I totally agree
> I've been keeping track of the send-off series, and while the team has done well and has been on a winning streak for a while now, they seem to lack any fire.
I was having a hard time putting my finger on it, but I think you've hit the nail on the head. I mean, the Brazil game was just a mess (every player seemed to forget all their ball-handling skills) but Norway, well, they scored their goal, and then they sat back. And without a really dynamic player out there (I'm thinking of a Tiffeny Millbrett, Mia Hamm type) there was little excitement. I mean, Wambach can score a goal, but she doesn't take the ball at her feet, beat three defenders and then slide a shot past the goalie. Everyone seemed kinda tired out there.
--abzug
Visit http://www.badgirlsannex.com!
Love the Annie L. shot of Foudy!
BTW
It's double genius--Foudy's and Lebowitz's. Nice addition to the story! Let's hope the current US team catches the same fire.
I agree...
(It shows such strength!)
Foudy
Women's Professional Soccer: Back in '09
Wahoo! We don't have to wait until only National Team events to see the U.S. Women's Soccer Team play.
The WUSA, which folded in 2004 and then announced that the league would start again in April of 2008, is now pushing for a 2009 launch date.
The league will be formed under a new name, and a number of the teams will play in MLS cities.
>> Rest of Story, including the cities that will have teams:
http://kakisports.blogspot.com/2007/09/womens-soccer-league-to-launch-in-09.html