US girls, women’s soccer thriving — but pro team owner says media lagging – Chicago Tribune
As the U.S. women’s national soccer team tries Sunday to claim its first World Cup since 1999, the sport itself appears to be in great shape. More girls and women than ever are participating at the high school and college levels, and the best even have a chance to make money by playing professionally.
It’s a success story with few equals in the era of Title IX, the 1972 law that prohibited discrimination against female school athletes. Soccer recently surpassed softball as the third-most popular team sport for high school girls, and according to an analysis by ESPN website FiveThirtyEight, could reach the top spot within the next decade.
The U.S. women’s high profile run to the World Cup final will help to drive that growth even more, some said.
“Participation does jump when U.S. women’s soccer does well,” said Christina Habib, regional commissioner for the Rogers Park branch of the American Youth Soccer Organization. “There will definitely be more interest from girls.”
But people in the sport say there is still plenty of room for improvement, from more women becoming coaches and administrators, to a more robust professional league, to more media attention once the World Cup is over.
“We have the top team in the top league in the top sport in the world,” said Arnim Whisler, owner of the Chicago Red Stars professional women’s soccer team. “And because of lack of media, few in Chicago know.”
From the grass roots to the very top, here is how some in the game assess the state of girl’s and women’s soccer:
Youth
The Illinois Youth Soccer Association, the state’s umbrella organization for dozens of travel and recreational leagues, has 78,000 registered players, and about half of them are girls, said Executive Director Mary Jane Bender. The female proportion has grown steadily since the national team’s famous victory at the 1999 World Cup, and she expects to see another bump after this year’s performance.
But one area that is lagging, she said, is women’s involvement at the higher levels of the sport.
“We’ve seen a slight decline in the involvement of women coaches and administrators,” she said. “I don’t know why. I think we need to have the women as role models. We’re working with a sociologist professor to see why that’s happening. It’s not exclusive to Illinois — it’s nationwide.”
Fiona Nolan, regional commissioner for the Morton Grove AYSO program, said she has seen a sign of change on one front — more girls than boys are volunteering to be youth referees.
“This fills me with hope,” she said. “They can gain some confidence. You own the field when you’re the center referee. That’s your field, even if you’re dealing with adult coaches. It’s a great opportunity to build their leadership skills, their social interactions with not only kids but adults as well.”
High school
Megan Owens, head coach at Geneva High School, said girls soccer has been on a steady upward climb since she started coaching 12 years ago.
“A lot of smaller schools are establishing programs, where in the past it was boys only and girls would have to play on the boys team,” she said.
According to the Illinois High School Association, the number of schools fielding girls soccer teams jumped from 278 in 1999 to 404 today. Participation growth has slowed in recent years — figures from the National Federation of State High School Associations show that the number of players in the state has increased only 1 percent since 2007, compared with 8 percent nationwide — but some coaches say the introduction of other girls sports, such as lacrosse, might account for that.
“Kids want to play the game,” said Joe Moreau, girls coach at Neuqua Valley in Naperville. “It’s a great game, and parents see the benefits of playing soccer. Nothing against activities like dance of gymnastics, because those are great, but this is a team sport. You have to get along with other people. It’s competitive and a little physical.”
Both coaches said the World Cup contributes to kids’ interest in the sport, but the lack of a high-paying professional system causes some talented players and their parents to put a limit on their ambitions.
“It becomes more of an issue when they’re deciding whether to play college or not, because some players recognize you can’t make a career of soccer, so they focus on a degree rather than playing,” Owens said. “I’ve definitely heard parents say that.”
College
No level of soccer in recent years has seen as much growth as women’s college teams. According to NCAA figures, the number of teams has increased by 7 percent since 2007, while the number of players has soared by 16 percent.
The top rung of college soccer was once ruled by dynasties like the University of North Carolina, which won 16 of 19 Division I titles between 1982 and 2000, but as the game continues to spread, other teams are crashing the party.
“You see an incredibly amount of parity in the college game now that maybe wasn’t present 10 years ago,” said DePaul coach Erin Chastain, sister-in-law of Brandi Chastain, a star player on the 1999 World Cup-winning U.S. team. “We’ve had several international players come over from England and Canada to come be a part of collegiate soccer, and I think their experiences have been wonderful. If you look at the rosters of the teams in the World Cup … a lot of these players went through the collegiate, D-I system.”
But Illinois State coach Eric Golz said the higher echelons of women’s soccer need more support from those who are already part of the game.
“It’s a combination of grass-roots support, from the girls playing to the parents attending more matches on a consistent basis, both professional and collegiate matches,” he said. “That typically will balloon interest, and as numbers increase in attendance, more corporate dollars are contributed and excitement tends to grow. As that happens, more media coverage happens. It’s kind of a domino effect in my mind.”
Professional
Lillie Toaspern was an All-American at Washington University in St. Louis, and now she’s trying to make it in the pros. The competition is ferocious: The Chicago Red Stars are packed with prominent players, including eight World Cup participants (four on the U.S. team), so Toaspern is starting out on the Stars’ unpaid reserve team.
“It may not be good for me, but it’s great for the league — it’s great to get the quality of play higher and higher,” she said last week at a Red Stars summer camp for kids.
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