Comments on: Canaries in the Coal Mine http://soccerlens.com/canaries-in-the-coal-mine/8398/ Football News Fri, 25 May 2012 10:44:22 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 By: BD Condell http://soccerlens.com/canaries-in-the-coal-mine/8398/#comment-98249 BD Condell Sun, 03 Aug 2008 12:13:26 +0000 http://soccerlens.com/canaries-in-the-coal-mine/8398/#comment-98249 I nearly didn't bother to read this but am glad I did. Really quality article! Now I have to admit that the reason I nearly skipped over it was that women's football does not really grab my attention, and I don't mean this in a male chauvinist pig sense. I live in Australia these days and they give their women's football team good coverage. As a result, I watched a number of games in the WC last year. The first problem is the quality of the product which is battling all the issues you mention. When competing with the top echelons of the men's game for support (from both men and women) it has a long way to go. OK, to be fair, it has come from a long way back in terms of trying to catch-up and doesn't need the many obstacles you list but unfortunately, in the dog eat dog world of professional sport these days, it's a huge challenge to overcome. In terms of popularity I see parallels with European league football. 3 or 4 leagues dominate Europe (men's game) and in the smaller countries the leagues are of a poorer standard and lack support. As a kid growing up in Ireland, along with all the other football addicted kids, I was seduced by the English game and have been a lifelong Man Utd fan. While never having attended a League of Ireland game, I travelled frequently to Old Trafford to follow my idols, as did my friends to whichever team they supported. The smaller countries have never overcome this and remain 'minor' with the best players heading for the bright lights abroad. The challenge for the women's game is the same. How do you develop and market the product to a level that it can compete. And, of course, at the end of the day we are talking about that little thing that rules the world today.....money. It's a sad reality that money is what drives development and money in sport is all about the audience and, by extension, the TV and sponsorship deals. Coming from the US you will understand this more than most. Maybe it becomes a catch 22. You can't generate the audience without the coverage and you can't attract the coverage without the audience demand. While 'bad attitudes', discrimination, short sightedness etc can be cited, as you do, as things holding back the development, the fact is that the people making these decisions (albeit mainly men) are influenced, driven and incented by the 'big ticket' things in their portfolios. Right now Women's football isn't one of them. It's my experience that the percentage of men interested in sport far exceeds that of women so there's an argument that women need to get behind their own teams. Unfortunately, if you're not interested, you're not interested. But all is not lost. It will be a long road but with the vast numbers of girls taking up the game worldwide these days (and this is still a relatively new phenomenon), the numbers will force change and progress. As a male, I would have no inhibitions whatsoever about watching women's football on a regular basis if the standard was even close to the men's game. For me it has nothing to do with the gender of the players, it's a bit like when I was a boy growing up in Ireland, the local league just didn't do it for me so I focused my interest elsewhere. Anyway, following your article I'll follow the upcoming event with more focus and interest and if this is the general standard of your writing I hope you keep contributing to Soccerlens! I nearly didn’t bother to read this but am glad I did. Really quality article!
Now I have to admit that the reason I nearly skipped over it was that women’s football does not really grab my attention, and I don’t mean this in a male chauvinist pig sense. I live in Australia these days and they give their women’s football team good coverage. As a result, I watched a number of games in the WC last year.
The first problem is the quality of the product which is battling all the issues you mention. When competing with the top echelons of the men’s game for support (from both men and women) it has a long way to go. OK, to be fair, it has come from a long way back in terms of trying to catch-up and doesn’t need the many obstacles you list but unfortunately, in the dog eat dog world of professional sport these days, it’s a huge challenge to overcome.

In terms of popularity I see parallels with European league football. 3 or 4 leagues dominate Europe (men’s game) and in the smaller countries the leagues are of a poorer standard and lack support. As a kid growing up in Ireland, along with all the other football addicted kids, I was seduced by the English game and have been a lifelong Man Utd fan. While never having attended a League of Ireland game, I travelled frequently to Old Trafford to follow my idols, as did my friends to whichever team they supported. The smaller countries have never overcome this and remain ‘minor’ with the best players heading for the bright lights abroad.
The challenge for the women’s game is the same. How do you develop and market the product to a level that it can compete. And, of course, at the end of the day we are talking about that little thing that rules the world today…..money.
It’s a sad reality that money is what drives development and money in sport is all about the audience and, by extension, the TV and sponsorship deals. Coming from the US you will understand this more than most.
Maybe it becomes a catch 22. You can’t generate the audience without the coverage and you can’t attract the coverage without the audience demand.

While ‘bad attitudes’, discrimination, short sightedness etc can be cited, as you do, as things holding back the development, the fact is that the people making these decisions (albeit mainly men) are influenced, driven and incented by the ‘big ticket’ things in their portfolios. Right now Women’s football isn’t one of them.

It’s my experience that the percentage of men interested in sport far exceeds that of women so there’s an argument that women need to get behind their own teams. Unfortunately, if you’re not interested, you’re not interested.

But all is not lost. It will be a long road but with the vast numbers of girls taking up the game worldwide these days (and this is still a relatively new phenomenon), the numbers will force change and progress. As a male, I would have no inhibitions whatsoever about watching women’s football on a regular basis if the standard was even close to the men’s game.

For me it has nothing to do with the gender of the players, it’s a bit like when I was a boy growing up in Ireland, the local league just didn’t do it for me so I focused my interest elsewhere.

Anyway, following your article I’ll follow the upcoming event with more focus and interest and if this is the general standard of your writing I hope you keep contributing to Soccerlens!

]]> By: bford http://soccerlens.com/canaries-in-the-coal-mine/8398/#comment-97673 bford Sun, 27 Jul 2008 17:04:19 +0000 http://soccerlens.com/canaries-in-the-coal-mine/8398/#comment-97673 It's a shame that female football players in Brazil and England and other countries are treated this way. In America girl's youth soccer has a lot of support and at some universities the teams will have over a thousand supporters at the match. I'll be pulling for the USA, but I'll keep a close watch on Brazil. They have a lot of talent, and with Wambach out for the US we might struggle with scoring goals. It’s a shame that female football players in Brazil and England and other countries are treated this way. In America girl’s youth soccer has a lot of support and at some universities the teams will have over a thousand supporters at the match. I’ll be pulling for the USA, but I’ll keep a close watch on Brazil. They have a lot of talent, and with Wambach out for the US we might struggle with scoring goals.

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