In our day and age, nobody bats an eye when hearing “women’s sports”. If anything, there has been significant progress since more conservative times towards gender equality in sports, with both men and women being encouraged and facilitated to participate in and enjoy sports. However, it is easy to forget that it might not have always been like this, and it is due to the efforts of people throughout the decades that push for women’s role in sports to get the recognition and prestige it deserves. In fact, the present state of women’s sports, though in a much more satisfactory position than in the past, is far from perfect and more progress needs to be made with continuous effort and rigour. Let’s take a look at women’s football in particular.
Brief history of football as a sport
Did you know that one of the earliest forms of a game that is closest in resemblance to modern association football was played by women in ancient China? Cuju was a game that was enjoyed by many across different classes, and was used as a form of exercise by soldiers as well as a popular leisure activity by court ladies, young and old, rich and poor, making it a people’s sport, just like our beloved football today. Many other similar forms of football existed across different time periods and cultures like Ancient Greece. Modern football, with its set of standardised rules and gameplay, slowly became formalised starting in the 1800s to present day, with the formation of associations and boards like FIFA. Things like the Laws of the Game, helped to solidify football into an internationally recognised and legitimate sport that can be implemented across different regions and countries.
While football, like many other forms of physical activities and sports, may be perceived to cater more to men due to its physicality, masculine association, and rough-and-tough nature, women have been participating actively in the sport over the centuries, even in the face of bans and discrimination that act as barriers for progress in women’s football. The formation of teams such as the British Ladies’ Football Club in 1894 was a trailblazing moment in history for women’s football, and playing the sport began to mean more than just enjoying oneself at the game, but also as a symbol and platform to push for women’s rights and freedom. Football was a way to demonstrate the convictions and desire for change in society by women, showing a prime example of how sports can have a more than proportionate impact on society than just being a form of leisure and exercise. Despite setbacks such as England banning women’s football being played on association pitches for a period in 1921 due to perceived unsuitability of the sport for women, women’s participation in the sport has grew steadily over the decades since, with the formation of many women’s football associations across the globe, tournaments such as the FIFA Women’s World Cup and the Olympic Games.
Notable players and major tournaments
The hall of fame for women’s football includes many inspirational players and pioneers across different generations.
Nettie Honeyball
Although her real name is not known definitively, Nettie Honeyball was a pioneer in women’s football in England in the 19th Century. She advocated for and founded the aforementioned British Ladies’ Football Club, which was one of the earliest known professional women’s football teams. Her work in forming the club, advertising and playing the game during her time paved the way for many other women’s football clubs to be formed after her’s, and for that, she deserves to be recognised as one of the pioneers for women’s association football today.
Marta Vieira da Silva
Marta is a Brazilian forward that many consider to be the greatest female player of all time. FIFA World Player of the Year for six times, she is Brazil’s best scorer on the international stage for both genders, and has many other impressive feats under her belt such as the Golden Ball and Golden Boot awards, making her an incredibly decorated and highly-admired football icon of our current generation.
Megan Rapinoe
One of Time magazine’s 100 Most Influential People of 2020, Megan Rapinoe is perhaps one of the most well-known women’s football player from the United States. She is most noted for her performances for her role in the 2011 FIFA Women’s World Cup quarterfinal match win for the USA, and for her title as the first football player of any gender to score a corner goal directly at the Olympics, even doing it twice! She also uses her platform and voice to advocate for many issues off the pitch such as LGBT rights and the fight for equal pay in women’s association football.
Major tournaments for women’s football
Globally, professional women’s football tournaments include the Olympic Games and the FIFA Women’s Football Cup, while different regions and continents around the world also host their own versions of high-level competitions such as the UEFA Women’s Championship in Europe, AFC Women’s Asian Cup in Asia, and the Copa América Femenina in South America, to name a few. Be sure to catch their live broadcast and videos online if you’re interested!
Challenges faced by women in football
It goes without mentioning that there is a long way to go for women’s football to be on equal footing with men’s. While significant progress has been made by women in the realm of sports, many issues and challenges still exist for women playing professionally.
The most glaring would be the gender pay gap between men and women in football, with women earning significantly less than men despite playing as good as, or performing even better during association games. This is largely due to the discrepancy between investment in men’s and women’s football, as generally, men’s football is more widely promoted, supported and celebrated by viewers and fans across the board, which leads to sponsors and clubs investing more resources into men’s games as compared to women’s games that have less viewership and revenue. The greater exposure of men’s games and publicity would continue the cycle of women’s football being overlooked and underfunded as less people would be aware and given the opportunity to watch and support women’s matches, leading to it being cyclically undersupported. This means that even when women’s teams do as good or even outperform men’s teams professionally, they are not being compensated proportionately to their achievements.
This also leads to less women being encouraged to pursue football as a career, which means lesser women’s coaches, referees, professional players and stakeholders, which result in it being harder for youths to consider joining the sport in the first place as they have a lack of representation and role models to follow.
Lastly, society’s prejudice and attitudes towards women in football, and sports in general, also poses a roadblock for many people. Many still stereotypically assign expectations on girls and women on how they should act, what activities they should enjoy and what interests they should pursue. While a girl playing sports is less likely to be frowned upon these days generally, there is still a deeply-seated notion that sports ultimately is a masculine pursuit. A woman playing football may not be openly refused from the game, but there is still the attitude that she is trying something ‘manly’, and not simply enjoying a sport as is. This, coupled with many other prejudices faced by women across different aspects of society such as career and family, means that playing football as a woman is seen as unattractive, unnatural and not given the same respect and recognition as a man.
Women’s football is something dynamic, exciting and new to look out for in the future. The world of women’s sports is definitely trending, and despite all the challenges and difficulties faced, women’s football has a rich history and bright future ahead that we can appreciate in the years to come.
