Why is Female Footballers Important? PART ONE

PART ONE  

    I’ve just finished my first year with an organization I started called Female Footballers.  We offer soccer clinics to girls ages 8-14. But what makes us unique is that each clinic includes a mental skills portion where players are asked to work on the mental side of their game.  Mental skills in sports is defined as: internal capabilities that help an athlete improve performance by learning to control their minds efficiently and consistently as they execute attainable goals.  The value in the mental side of the game is pertinent to achieving high levels in the sport. But do all believe that in the world of soccer? The answer: keep reading as I give more background.

    When I started this journey about two years ago and was getting back into the soccer world after a long break where I had kids and followed my husband's professional soccer journey, my initial focus was on how surprising it was that the women’s role in the game hadn’t changed as much as I had expected it to.  When I played youth club soccer, ODP and division one college soccer, there were very few female coaches and no professional league. My college experience emerged simultaneously with the 1999 Women’s World cup win and the start to a women’s professional league. So when I started this venture, after about a 10-12 year break from my own personal soccer experience, I was highly focused on the women’s role in the game.  Are we gaining ground towards equality? Are we getting the same treatment, opportunities? Where are all the women coaches? And what I found flabbergasted me. ( I love that word.) I couldn’t believe that in all this time and after our USWNT program had become so successful, that men still predominantly run the youth and college soccer world. The female side of the game became my passion once again. That is why I started a female  organization. 

It’s been five years of learning more about the youth structure and the ups and downs that women have experienced during my absence in the sport.  I have found that although in many ways we have come a long way, we are also still farther than we need to be. My hope is that this past summer’s Women’s World Cup win in France will help boost us up.  This blog will be about many things such as the women’s role in coaching, and other current events in the sport, but mainly about the female player and get to the many reasons why the mental aspect of the sport need attention now.