Women are getting closer to their goal: gender equity. Soccer doesn’t escape this reality. Society has changed and roles too; the institutionalization of the masculine and the feminine is part of a past, still to be overcome but female participation in soccer has increased significantly.
The feminine presence in all areas is fundamental because it constitutes a different point of view from the men’s and in the differences there is enrichment.
Women are on the fields. They frequent them, visit them, explore them. The latest data from FIFA indicate that around 30 million women and girls in the world practice soccer on a regular basis, whether amateur or professional.
Women are also present behind the fences, in the stands, dressed in the color of their teams, in a gallery that is often a space full of machism.
Today, 211 federations are incorporated into FIFA and 168 of them have a women’s branch. Thus, the current challenge is the professionalization of sport more than development.
The evidence shows that a professional league allows the formation of a winning team. For example, the United States has the highest number of world titles and also a very strong national league.
What is this about? A fundamental part is the work that is done in schools, where the practice of soccer is greatly encouraged and this sport is shown to girls as a place where they can have a good time and compete in a healthy way.
But for many specialist, what benefited the progress of women’s soccer in the United States was the ‘Title IX’ law approved in 1972. Mainly, this regulation prohibits in all areas, including sports, gender discrimination in schools and colleges that receive money from public funds; so, many girls became interested in soccer
In 2016, the Mexican Football Federation launched an ambitious project: the first professional women’s league in the country. Sources close to the institution indicated that it was only a pilot project, with the fear of failure.
And the bomb exploded. Women’s division fascinated in their first tournament. Assistance in the first half of the competition, including the elimination phase, was surprising. More than three million fans came to see the players. The League went from games on the Internet and Facebook to more stable spaces, at least on pay television.
Worldwide, women’s soccer is here, has settled and does not intend to move. The road has been difficult and will continue to be in the future, but the facts invite to optimism: more funding will come, more possibilities for growth and more opportunities for all young footballers.
Why not thinking, in the future, that the stars of women’s sport will be at the same level as those of men’s sport in recognition and historical projection? They have already shown that matches and championships can be as exciting as the men’s. Therefore, there should not be any difference between men’s and women’s soccer. Women deserve this.