Category: Opinion

Sky Blue is a Moral Failure for the NWSL

Posted on by RJ Allen

If Sky Blue FC was owned by a Republican member of New Jersey politics, Governor Phil Murphy may have already called for a special session to ask how someone could own a team and run it so poorly. If Steven Temares, the Chief Executive Officer of Bed Bath & Beyond, had someone interview for a position at his company who ran things as poorly as Sky Blue has been run, they’d be laughed out of the room. And yet these men are the owners of Sky Blue FC, a club that has offered little to no outward sign of change since a run of articles at Deadspin (written by Erica L Ayala and myself), Once A Merto and The Equalizer all reported on the conditions.

Conditions that should have 1) been known to the NWSL and been corrected years ago and 2) set managing director of operations, Amanda Duffy’s hair on fire when they finally got some of the publicity they deserve.

And yet, a few months later and no one is still really talking about Sky Blue FC and its failures of leadership. No one except for Cloud 9, the team’s supporters group, a collection of people who are as dedicated to the players as any you’re ever likely to find.

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The media, myself included, have largely moved onto new subjects, and stopped talking about the lack of showers or the shabby conditions. This isn’t surprising, exactly. Media sites generally have a hard time sticking with a story for an extended period of time. Other issues draw our attention, and without any real news–thanks to a lack of comments from players and the team–there’s a limit to how much you want to keep bashing your head against the wall of the same old story. But maybe we should have bashed a bit harder.

The team says they’re changing. But where’s the evidence? They’re still employing Tony Novo, they still think it’s acceptable to have used a trailer as the team’s shower, and playing on the Rutgers field. And there’s no proof they plan to actually do anything but wait until this all blows over and hope everyone forgets. They haven’t responded to critics or supporters, not even when fans have stated directly that they won’t buy season tickets until change is made.

The fault is with the Sky Blue organization. But the buck doesn’t stop there. The NWSL itself has also failed the players and fans of Sky Blue FC by not pushing the ownership to make real changes or pushing for the sale of the team when they didn’t. They have failed every player who steps in to the jail cell of a visitor’s locker room with no access to a shower. They have chosen obfuscation, presumably in the hopes that “wait and see if the blow back dies down” will be a winning strategy.

The current owners have the money to turn Sky Blue in to one of the top teams in the NWSL. They know how to run an organization. They’re in one of the biggest media markets in the country. But the path to success requires responsiveness to these issues. It means accepting the legitimacy of criticism, and making real efforts to meet the rising standards for a professional sports team. Failure to live up to any of that has all but sealed the club’s fate.

Sky Blue FC needs to be sold to owners who are willing to devote the time, money and energy to make the team successful. And if that can’t happen then maybe a quick death is better than the laborious, suffocating death the team is currently sentenced to.

Scotland Won’t Win the World Cup

Posted on by RJ Allen

The probability that Scotland is going to win the 2019 Women’s World Cup isn’t very high. But it is a possibility.

Scotland will play in the Women’s World Cup for the first time when they take the field for their opening match. And that game will open up a possibility that has never existed for the program before.

It is almost silly to say but you can’t win a World Cup unless you qualify for it. Which makes qualifying itself an important part of the process. Only 23 teams win their fights for a spot in the tournament (along with the host). And those few newcomers who manage it will be joining a club that’s mostly filled with repeat players.

34 teams have qualified for the Women’s World Cup in the last 27 years. 10 of those countries, including Scotland, Chile, and Jamaica from this round of qualifying, have only made it once. And when FIFA is going to 48 teams for the Men’s World Cup in 2026, to increase the chance for countries like India and their billion strong population to add new viewers, I have to wonder why the Women’s World Cup has just 24 teams.

As of right now the break down for the Women’s World Cup is as follows:

UEFA: 8 slots
AFC: 5 slots
CAF: 3 slots
CONCACAF: 3 slots
CONMEBOL: 2 slots
OFC: 1 slot
CONCACAF–CONMEBOL play-off: 1 slot
Host Nation: 1 slot

This is a much needed boost from the original 12 countries that started in 1991, or the 16 from 1999 until 2011, but it frankly just isn’t good enough anymore.

You can’t ensure that every country who ‘should’ make it is able to qualify. There will always be some of those. But there are more and more countries in the world of women’s soccer that deserve a chance to play for a World Cup. And right now there just aren’t the spots for them.

Of the four teams that made the UEFA play offs – Netherlands, Switzerland, Belgium, and Denmark – only one team will be able to head to France in 2019. There will be no Mexico or Costa Rico from CONCACAF.

So how would I get the women’s side to 32 teams for the 2023 Women’s World Cup? Glad you asked.

UEFA: 12 slots
AFC: 6 slots
CAF: 4 slots
CONCACAF: 4 slots
CONMEBOL: 3 slots
OFC: 1 slot
OFC–CONMEBOL play-off: 1 slot
Host Nation: 1 slot

It isn’t a major tweak to the make up of the tournament from a confederation stand point but it would give more chances to get more Scotlands or Chiles in the future. More first time teams and more of a chance to get those cinderella runs that sports fans all over the world love.

I would shifted to a OFC–CONMEBOL play off instead of the current CONCACAF–CONMEBOL playoff instead of giving OFC a second automatic slot. It gives teams not named New Zealand a shot to get to a Women’s World Cup.

FIFA has often been negligent in it’s duty to grow women’s soccer in a meaningful way. Between the amount of prize money to turf fields to just a general ambivalence to the women’s side of the sport in general. But growing the tournament? Giving teams the possibility of the chance to put their country on their backs? That could go a long way to making a change for the better.

I am excited to watch Scotland play in France. The idea that Kim Little, Rachel Corsie, Jane Ross and company get to show the world what they can do is something I wouldn’t have bet on being possible four years ago. Now they get to show the world what they can do with the possibility of a chance to win. Other countries should get the same chance.

A Sociological View on Selling Women’s Soccer: A Conversation with Dr. Rachel Allison

Posted on by RJ Allen

Most of the media that cover women’s sports have made themselves experts in the field – and often times using expert feels a bit dicy – through years of following the teams and players. We get there by writing about the on-the-field play and the off-the-field drama of whatever is going on.

But let’s face it. Most of us, when you come right down to it, are not experts in gender studies or sports in any sort of academic sense. There are a surprising number of lawyers in the women’s soccer media ranks, a lot of former players, a few academics from other areas. But most of us come to the media from a place of passion to fill a gap we see.

That’s where Dr. Rachel Allison enters the picture. Dr. Allison recently wrote a book called Kicking Center: Gender and the Selling of Women’s Professional Soccer that addresses a lot of issues that have faced women’s soccer. She is what many of us would call a honest-to-goodness expert in what a lot of the women’s soccer media writes about. In 2014 she received a PhD in Sociology from the University of Illinois at Chicago. Currently she is an Assistant Professor of Sociology and affiliate of Gender Studies at Mississippi State University.

“I typically teach undergraduate and graduate classes in research methods, sociology of sport, and sociology of gender and sexuality,” Dr. Allison explained when I asked her about her work at Mississippi State University.

I was lucky enough to be able to speak with Dr. Allison and ask some questions about why she decided on this topic and why she went in some of the directions she did.

The story of why this book was written is one that most women’s soccer fans can get behind. Dr. Allison was, like so many in women’s soccer, a fan of the 1999 team and all that was born out of their World Cup winning side.

Like most of us that cover or write about women’s soccer at all, there is a confluence of the personal and professional love for this game and those who play it.

“I came to this topic for both personal and academic reasons. Personally, I grew up playing soccer and continued through college. I love the sport and it has been a big part of my life and my own physical and social development. I’m also the right age (34) to remember events like the 1996 Olympics, 1999 Women’s World Cup, and birth of the WUSA – as a fan, of course. My students call me old! But I have very clear memories of watching the Women’s World Cup and feeling so excited to see women playing my favorite sport on TV. It would have been hard at the time to avoid seeing clips or images from the ’99 championship! I knew about the WUSA, although I lived too far from any team at the time to attend a game. And when that league folded in 2003, I was leaving home for college. It was a huge disappointment to me that at the time it was becoming more possible for me to travel to a game as I became more independent, it wasn’t an option anymore.”

“In graduate school, I did a lot of research on women’s sports and I realized that multiple other women’s pro sports leagues had failed through the 1990’s and 2000’s. While the WUSA’s story was, of course, unique, it was also part of a pattern. And there just wasn’t much research that looked at that pattern. A lot of scholars have examined the experiences or identities of women athletes, but not so much the operations of the teams or the leagues that they play for. My personal and academic interests came together with WPS in 2009. I was in Chicago for graduate school and bought a season ticket right away for that first season. I enjoyed the games enormously (Megan Rapinoe was still brunette!) but was also aware of a lot of the struggles to gain fans, sponsorships, etc. the league faced early on. Over time, I became convinced that better understanding women’s soccer could shed light on both the challenges and opportunities for women in professional sport in the U.S.”

“I wanted to write this book to present a sociological analysis of the development and operation of women’s pro soccer, with the goal of understanding how the landscape in pro sports has changed for women in some ways and yet remained the same in others. It’s an academic book, but I hope that others can and will read it!”

The book opens with the 1999 World Cup. A place that is alive in most of our minds even if we somehow weren’t glued to the TV that day almost 20 years ago.

“I start with 1999 for a few reasons,” Dr. Allison explained, “for one, it’s an event that many people remember, even if they don’t typically follow women’s soccer or know much about it. So it’s a familiar place to start. And it’s also interesting for exactly that reason, that lots of people who recognize the players from that tournament or the now-iconic image of Chastain don’t know much else about women’s soccer. That tournament really did capture national attention in a way that has had lasting impact on our culture and that brought people “in” who hadn’t closely followed soccer before. I think this is a case of the right group at the right time with the right buy in. These women were an easy sell – they were attractive, talented, charismatic, and had clear group chemistry. 1999 marked two decades of incredible growth in girls’ and women’s sports participation, especially in soccer, and especially among affluent and predominantly white girls. Companies like Adidas and Nike perceived that women were a somewhat untapped market and had increasingly used women athletes in their advertisements and commercials. The idealized body for women had shifted away from thinness and towards athleticism. And there was buy in from corporate and media organizations that made this tournament available to watch, and in its timing, the tournament did not directly compete against other highly popular sports events.”

“The success of this tournament, like other Women’s World Cup and Olympic tournaments, fundamentally challenges the idea that there is little interest in women’s sports in the U.S. One of my arguments in the book is that interest and buy in are a two-way street: investors often want to see a quantifiable ROI to their investment, but we can’t always fully know this in advance, in part because an ROI requires that investment in the first place! Support from sponsors and media give women’s leagues legitimacy and make them available for fans. When there is buy in, even in a climate of uncertainty like that around the 1999 Women’s World Cup, interest often follows.”

When the topic shifted to what the WPS/NWSL has done well, Dr. Allison was quick to point out one major area of benefit.

“On the positive side, women’s pro soccer adopted social media early and did a great job using it to communicate with fans. This probably seems completely commonsense now, but I studied WPS in a slightly earlier era in the social media landscape, and this has allowed me to appreciate just how quick they were to get on Facebook and Twitter and how impactful social media has been, especially without being on TV. One of the results has been the creation of really vibrant and active social media fan and follower communities.”

We do often take for granted how much social media has been a boon for women’s soccer and the teams to market themselves. From the days before the internet was a thing most of us spent our time on to the days of six hours a day on Twitter, things have changed and women’s soccer has been great at using this tool to market.

Dr. Allison noted another less ethereal benefit. “I also think that women’s pro soccer changed quickly over time towards the greater acceptance of lesbian and gay sexualities and this has been a positive change. In large part, this change mirrors trends towards greater acceptance in U.S. society more generally.”

Though it seems from fans to amateur writers to PhDs the one thing we can all agree on is sometimes the leagues just don’t know who to market to.

“On a more ambivalent note, I think that women’s pro soccer has historically defined their “market” as soccer-playing girls and their parents.” Dr. Allison noted. “And while there are good reasons to go after these fans, there are also good reasons to go after other groups of fans, and these groups, particularly adult fans without kids, sometimes feel less welcomed when game day spaces are set up entirely for kids. One of the things I find in the book is that while families with soccer playing kids may be interested in women’s pro soccer, they are also not the most consistent in their fandom, often pulled in multiple directions by other of their kids’ activities and sometimes just burned out on soccer altogether.”

Women’s soccer has had an interesting journey since the early days of the internet and how it has been marketed. People like Dr. Allison and books like Kicking Center: Gender and the Selling of Women’s Professional Soccer help to remind us of where we’ve come from and how to make the future a little easier to sell. 

Kicking Center: Gender and the Selling of Women’s Professional Soccer is now available on Amazon and where other books are sold. 

Predicting The Pride: Head Coach Edition

Posted on by RJ Allen

It is the lot in life for most head coaches to be let go of the team they are leading. This came to be true for Tom Sermanni, as the Orlando Pride wilted down the stretch losing the final four matches of the season, and were winless in the last six fixtures.

While most fans of the league focused on the NWSL championship between the Portland Thorns and North Carolina Courage, Orlando Pride supporters look to find answers on who the next gaffer of the team may be. 

Pro Soccer USA reported early this month the team was already interviewing potential replacements. Looking at who the club may target, I came up with this list of prospects. If you follow the tendencies of the organization, it makes it seem unlikely the team would replace Sermanni with a coach from the college ranks due to his coaching pedigree, and his history as U.S. women’s national team coach.

The club will target a higher profile manager, so in no particular order, these are some possible dream candidates that would be interviewed if I were the general manager for the Orlando Pride.

Steffi Jones, Former German Women’s National Team Head Coach

Steffi Jones rose to prominence through the German Federation, first by being appointed the Director of Women’s and Girls’ Soccer in 2011. She transitioned to the coaching staff of the German women’s national team as an assistant to Silvia Neid on April 2016 then taking over for her when she stepped down September of that year. Jones run of form as manager ended after 22 matches with a poor showing in the SheBelieves Cup back in March of this year finishing with an overall record of 13 wins, 4 losses, and 5 draws.

The knock against her, like former Houston Dash coach Vera Pauw coming into the 2018 season, is a lack of experience coaching at the club level. Additionally, she would also have to get up to speed quickly on the inner workings of the league she would be unfamiliar with. However, perhaps Jones could also find the similar success Pauw found in Houston on her lone season, it would take the veterans on the Pride squad buying into a potential new system going into a World Cup year.  

Chance of Hire: Another time might work.

Pia Sundhage, Sweden U-17, U-15 Women’s National Team Head Coach

The name of Pia Sundhage should be very familiar with women’s soccer fans either with her tenure as coach for the United States women’s national team from 2007 until 2012 winning Olympic gold in 2008 and 2012. She departed to become the coach for the women’s team in her home country of Sweden. During her time there, she is best known for leading Sweden to a silver medal at the 2016 Olympics where Sundhage’s team was able to knockout the U.S. team in penalty shoot-out. The defensive style of play was called out by Hope Solo after the match, and things got weird. Sweden was able to take out the Brazilian team next in the same manner. Interestingly, against Sweden in the penalty shoot-out both Alex Morgan and Marta missed their kick.

After she stepped down as manager of the senior team in 2017, she’s been coaching the Swedish U-15 and U-17 teams. In addition to coaching, Pia performs public speaking, and seems to be settled in her life. However, last year there was a report in the now defunct Excelle Sports stating Sundhage was courted to come back to the United States to coach in the NWSL. Now this didn’t happen, but could the Orlando front office entice her to the Sunshine State?

Chance of Hire: More hope and a prayer than wait and see.

Emma Hayes, Chelsea F.C. Women Head Coach

Emma Hayes has been in charge of Chelsea F.C. Women since 2012 where she lead her club to two Women’s Super League titles, and two Women’s FA Cups achieving a club double each time in 2015 then in the 2017-18 season. Prior to her time with Chelsea, Hayes lived in the States where she coached the Chicago Red Stars for two season in Women’s Professional Soccer (WPS), the league at the time which preceded the NWSL, in 2009 and 2010. Prior to Phil Neville’s appointment as manager of English women’s national team, she had been a name rumored to be high on the Football Association wish list.

Hayes established herself as a highly desirable coach with her stellar reputation, and proven results has also allowed her to set down firm roots in London. She operates a business outside of soccer, and also had a child. Chelsea has been accommodating to her needs, and schedule. She would make an excellent coach to any NWSL side; however, with her life so well formed in England, is there much of a draw to coach in America?

Chance of Hire: Apologies, but I can’t make it.

Emily Lima, Santos F.C Head Coach

Emily Lima, the current head coach for Brazilian side Santos F.C., made history when she was the first female appointed coach of the Brazilian women’s national team in 2016 taking over for Vadão; however, her 7-5-1 record lead to her dismissal less than a year from her appointment. When Lima was let go, several of the players retired from the national team, and protested the level of support from the Brazilian soccer federation. Coach Lima afterward joined Santos F.C. where just after one year she lead the team to the Paulista Feminino championship and a quarterfinal appearance in the women’s Brazilian Championship.

For anyone familiar with the Orlando Pride front office, Coach Lima checks a lot of boxes. She would be familiar with several of the players on the roster, her recent success at the club level is also appealing, and the style of play she would bring to the City Beautiful could be the answer to the poor performance from the roster in 2018. Could a limited English speaking ability hamper what could be a promising prospect?

Chance of Hire: Could the stars align?

Lisa Cole, Washington Spirit Academy Coach & pro team scout

Lisa Cole had an eventful 2018 NWSL season. She started by joining the coaching staff of Vera Pauw at the Houston Dash from the Papua New Guinea U-20 Women’s National Team in January, but on April 26, Cole would tweet she was no longer a part of the Dash coaching staff. A month later, the Washington Spirit would announce her in a dual role as a coach for their academy; as well as, a pro team scout.

Being a scout for the Spirit, Coach Cole is knowledgeable on both the college game and within the league on the level of talent with players. She would also have some familiarity with players on the Pride roster; as well as, the opponents the team would face in the upcoming season. The question would be if Lisa Cole is a name the front office and fanbase would get excited over. The club tends to like to make a big splashy acquisitions, so not sure if Cole would be on the club’s radar, and if she is if they would prefer a flashier name.

Chance of Hire: Never tell me the odds.

The Orlando Pride have yet to announce who will lead the team going into the 2019 season, but the fan base is certainly hoping to return to the playoffs after the dismal tailspin resulted in the seventh place finish in the standings. Here’s hoping the club provides an opportunity to a highly-qualified coach with experience in the women’s game, expertise handling big name players; as well as, player development. We’ll be knowing something shortly if the hints prove to be right.

The High Price of CONCACAF’s Low Investment in Women’s Soccer

Posted on by RJ Allen

The 2018 CONCACAF Women’s Championship has been strange. Both Jamaica and Panama have made the semifinals while Costa Rico and Mexico–two teams that were expected to make the cut–are now out of the tournament. The only really expected result that has held is both Canada and the US making the semifinals.

Well that and CONCACAF federations sending teams that are ill-prepared due to a lack of resources.

As Charles Olney wrote in Cuba, CONCACAF, and the Future of Women’s Soccer,

“Cuba, meanwhile, hadn’t played in three years since the start of this year’s campaign, which means significant portion of their roster had never played a single international game before this year. Nor do they have a meaningful domestic league in which to hone their skills during these significant gaps. And given Cuba’s isolated status, it would be quite difficult for players to play internationally, even for those few with sufficient talent to potentially make the case.”

CONCACAF and the 41 federations that make up the confederation, have a long history of not doing much to promote women’s soccer. The Panamas, Cubas, Jamaicas of the world have seen limited support over the years.

Which is a shame, because there’s a lot of opportunity out there. Look at Panama, who no one would accuse of over preparation, but who nevertheless have featured one of the tournament’s break out stars in Yenith Bailey. The 17 year old Panamanian goalkeeper has launched a thousand tweets with some of her show stopping saves. She has been rock steady on a team that surprised much of the world by advancing to the semifinals.

Both fans and media alike have been captivated by her the way that her performances have defied the odds, keeping her team in games that no one thought they would be in.

Jeff Kassouf of Equalizer Soccer wrote about the young goalkeeper in,Yenith Bailey is the hero Concacaf needs right now, even if not the one it deserves.

Men In Blazers tweeted about how great she was.

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FIFA.com quoted Carli Lloyd as saying, “Very, very impressive,” said Lloyd after the final whistle. “I think I went up to her a couple of times to tell her how well she was doing. She played a fantastic game and I hope that gives her lots of self-confidence.”

Twitter has been awash in tweets that she should play in the NWSL, or that colleges should be offering her scholarships to play in the US. And while I watched the tweets fill up my timeline I started to think about how unfair all this feels. How tournaments like this always serve as a showing of the haves – mostly the US and Canada – and the have nots.

Because players like Yenith Bailey are out there in the confederation. And tournaments like this serve as a reminder that if the federations of CONCACAF wanted to – if they cared even a fraction as much as they do about the men’s national teams – they could make true investments in the women’s national teams. It wouldn’t take much, but it would mean that players like Bailey wouldn’t just shine once in a blue moon but year after year.

Watching this tournament, it’s clear that there’s a cost to spending no money. If you have no camps, and spend most of every four year cycle forgetting that you even have a women’s program, it puts everything on the players when the event finally does roll around. You might get a miracle here and there, but we should expect so much more.

Three Questions Before the NWSL Final

Posted on by RJ Allen

We have finally made it to the very last day of the 2018 NWSL season. We have weathered the summer thunderstorms, the midday heat, the head scratching trades, the coaching kerfuffles and all the other furtastic things that come with your typical season.

And we’re right back to the same place we were on the very last day of the 2017 NWSL season. The Portland Thorns and the North Carolina Courage are playing a game for all the marbles.

There are a lot of questions we just don’t know yet surrounding this match. Will the Thorns become the first team to three stars? Will North Carolina win a title after two years of regular season league dominance? Will the ref remember to take the cards out of their pocket this year if needed?

Before we all sit down to watch the NWSL championship match, I have a few other questions rattling around in my brain.

1) How will playing in Portland affect the game?

The North Carolina Courage won the league around the 4th of July. At that point it was pretty clear no one was going to catch up and they weren’t slowing down to make it easy on them anyway. But the Courage have to go for their title playing no home games in the playoffs due to a hurricane ravaging the Carolina coastline.

If the final were taking place in any other venue then we might not be talking so much about it. But Providence Park is a huge home field advantage for the Portland Thorns. Watching how the Courage react to being in a hostile environment is going to be interesting. Not having McCall Zerboni adds to the question of how the team will respond.

Will they feed off of the energy of the fans even if most won’t be supporting them? Will playing the semi there aid in their preparation? Will it turn into another 4-1 Courage victory like the team had there on May 30th?

The Thorns are going to have a more comfortable time at home. But will it give them the edge to beat the Courage? 

2) Who will be the hero of the game?

Will Tobin Heath show off just why she is so electric on the ball and win the game for the Thorns? Will it be 2018 NWSL MVP Lindsey Horan who is somehow open on yet another set piece to use her head to put the ball in the back of the net? Will it be Lynn Williams showing off why she was 2016 MVP? Or 2015 MVP Crystal Dunn making some magic?

There are players on both sides of this match with the skill and the talent to take their teams on their backs and score. There are players on both rosters with the talent to have a major defensive block to save a game winning goal too. Every centerback in this match made the Best XI or Second XI this year. 

If the ref controls the game and keeps both teams from becoming overly physical, as the final from 2017 was, this could be one of the best showcases for women’s soccer we have in 2018.

3) Will Jaelene Hinkle be booed all game and how will she handle it when she is?

Jaelene Hinkle has been the best outside back in the NWSL for two seasons while at the same time being out spoken in her active non support for LGBT persons.

During the North Carolina semi against the Chicago Red Stars, every time Hinkle had the ball, she was met with boos for the 4,000 or so fans in attendance. And it visibly rattled her. The final is a predicted sell out. Meaning about 4 times that amount of people will be in attendance for the final and presumably a fair number will boo.

From a soccer perspective how Hinkle handles this will likely make or break the game for North Carolina. She is a force on both sides of the ball for the team and they need her to be on her A game today.

For a non soccer perspective it seems that Hinkle is doing very little to think about her perspective and the harm is costs others if her comments to Stephanie Yang in her latest piece for Dirty South Soccer-  Jaelene Hinkle is aware of your boos, but doesn’t want to think about them – are any indication.

I don’t know what the “solution” to the Jaelene Hinkle saga in the NWSL is, or if there even is one. Personally I have undergone a change from “well she has a right to her wrong opinion” over the last year or so to a much less tolerant position on her unrepentant bigotry. Ideas like the ones she gave to the 700 Club hurt people. They feed into the notion that pushes LGBT persons to the brink, and often over it, every day. I hope one day Hinkle understands that. I am just sorry it took me so long to. 

The NWSL final will be played on Saturday, September 22, at 4:30 p.m. ET. If you’re in the US you can watch it on Lifetime. If you’re an international you can watch on the NWSL website.

Listen To The Women

Posted on by RJ Allen

Last weekend, Serena Williams faced Naomi Osaka in the U.S. Open Women’s Final, a match where the quality of play was overshadowed by the umpire. Williams was penalized for breaking a racket, receiving hand signals from her coach, and defending those violations to the umpire. Williams received a point penalty for smashing her racket and a game penalty after calling the referee a thief.

After the match, Williams claimed that her penalties were another example of sexism in sports. Yes, she violated the rules, but those rules are not enforced equally. “He’s never taken a game from a man because they said ‘thief,’” Williams said after the match. “It blows my mind.”

Since this match, I have seen countless sportspeople—mostly men—debate whether sexism played a role in this incident. And for me, it evokes a similar feeling to when men sit around and debate women’s health. It’s not an issue for them, so it’s not an issue.

I’m not saying men shouldn’t talk about this. I’m not even saying they have to agree with Williams, although plenty of men have taken her side. What amazes me about the discussion surrounding these events is how quickly some men are willing to deny Williams’ experience even when countless female athletes have expressed similar sentiment. What amazes me is how some people seem to deny sexism in sports altogether, even when women are screaming about it.

Billie Jean King penned an Op-Ed in the Washington Post on September 9th in support of Williams. King wrote, “Did Ramos treat Williams differently than male players have been treated? I think he did. Women are treated differently in most arenas of life. This is especially true of women of color. And what played out on the court yesterday happens far too often… Ultimately, a woman was penalized for standing up for herself.”

Elena Delle Donne, a WNBA MVP, took to Instagram shortly after the match. She wrote, “What @serenawilliams is saying here is 100% accurate. Women are expected to act a certain way and carry themselves ‘appropriately.’” While Megan Rapinoe didn’t comment on the officiating specifically, she tweeted to Williams, “THANK YOU for the way you carry yourself as a beautiful, powerful, badass woman! You are ALWAYS paving the way.”

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It is no secret how strongly I feel about women’s equality and the lack there of. What @serenawilliams is saying here is 100% accurate. Women are expected to act a certain way and carry themselves “appropriately.” This is a perfect example. Serena shows passion and her true feelings and is penalized. Let’s face it… if a man did this same exact thing you would all be bowing down to him. It is so sad to me to see those that want to act like they believe in equality not supporting a female that has been put in this situation. Sadly this has taken so much glory away from @naomiosakatennis and regardless she earned the trophy! We are all in this fight together as women and the most important thing we can do is support one another. It’s just very unfortunate this male chair umpire took her shine. Congratulations to Naomi.

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We’ve seen this debate around the double-standard of civility in women’s soccer too, most notably when Hope Solo had her contract terminated following the 2016 Olympics, where she called the Swedish national team “cowards.” While Solo has not commented on the incident at the U.S Open, the discussion around her contract termination was similar to the discussion around Williams. As Shireen Ahmed wrote in the Guardian, “The goalkeeper’s remarks after crashing out of the Olympics were tactless, but her suspension proves female athletes are unjustly held to a higher standard.”

Even within the 2018 U.S Open, this was not the only notable example of sexism. Alizé Cornet, a French player ranked No. 31 in the world, was given a code violation after changing her shirt during a break. Cornet was returning to the court after a ten-minute break due to the heat, and when she realized her shirt was on backwards, she simply took it off and put it on correctly. For this, she received a code violation, even though men remove their shirts on the court all the time.

So, I’m not saying that people have to agree with Williams’ assessment of the penalties during the U.S. Open Final. But if they are going to disagree with her, they must find a way to do it that does not underestimate the difficulties that Williams and other female athletes deal with every day, on and off the court.

I think Martina Navratilova found that balance in her Op-Ed for the New York Times. Navratilova started the piece by acknowledging that Williams was correct to point out that “there is a huge double standard for women when it comes to how bad behavior is punished.” But she went on to question whether behavior such as calling the umpire names or breaking your racket should be acceptable in the sport as a whole. Navratilova strikes that balance between disagreeing with Williams actions and reactions, while also acknowledging that Williams has always been treated as an outsider in the game of tennis. 

You can disagree with Navratilova. You can disagree with Williams. But by focusing on this one event, and choosing to debate whether or not Williams experienced sexism, people seem to be forgetting the bigger picture. Women face rampant discrimination in sports. Often times, this discrimination is perpetrated without shame or denial. If you’re a woman or color or a woman in the LGBT community or a member of any other group that faces discrimination, your road to success becomes even harder. 

Female athletes know this. That’s why as Williams situation unfolded, they took to social media and traditional media outlets to express their support. Even Navratilova, who disagreed with Williams on some points, did so in a way that respected the challenges she has faced. 

Williams is trying to tackle this discrimination head-on. “I’m going to continue to fight for women… The fact that I have to go through this is just an example for the next person that has emotions and wants to express themselves and they want to be a strong woman and they’re gonna be allowed to do that because of today. Maybe it didn’t work out for me but it’s going to work out for the next person.” 

Billie Jean King supported the importance of Williams words and actions. “I hope every single girl and woman watching yesterday’s match realizes they should always stand up for themselves and for what they believe is right. Nothing will ever change if they don’t.”

Listen to the women, folks. It’s not that hard.

The NWSL Weather Woes: Playoff Edition

Posted on by RJ Allen

The National Women’s Soccer League 2018 season will be remembered for the extremes of the standings with the dominance of the North Carolina Courage and the woes in New Jersey both on and off the field with Sky Blue FC. Among the lesser stories which will be nothing more than footnotes in the season, will be the impact of the weather in the season.

Unlike the increased risk of heat which had to be dealt with in 2017 by the league with a change to the extreme heat policy and hydration breaks mid-season, this year the league’s weather bone of contention was lighting delays. Multiple matches throughout the season had to be rescheduled, most notably was Sky Blue’s match against the Washington Spirit on Sunday, September 2nd which caused the side from the Garden State to play the Chicago Red Stars the very next Tuesday with less than 48-hours of rest.

Fast forward to the star of the post season and the playoff games scheduled for this weekend where North Carolina is scheduled to host Chicago in the second playoff game on Sunday, September 16.

However, the league is going to face a unique weather related situation, Hurricane Florence is projected on making landfall as a major hurricane somewhere along the coast in the days leading up to the match. The same time the Red Stars will be looking to fly in to North Carolina and the same time fans will be looking to head toward Cary. 

The Saffir-Simpson scale is a wind rating from category one, being the weakest, to category five, the strongest winds causing catastrophic damage. A major hurricane would be a category three or higher. The current projections put Hurricane Florence at a category four. 

[media-credit name=”Chart Source: NOAA” align=”aligncenter” width=”762″][/media-credit]

Several factors to consider is this storm will bring a large amount of rain to the area, and potentially flooding to parts of the state. Tornadoes can potentially occur even several hundred miles away from the center of the hurricane. This isn’t going to be an ideal situation to host a playoff game even with Cary being much further inland that it would be spared much of the initial impacts.

The league should already be working on getting ahead of the situation since the threat is real even with the high level of uncertainty.  Last season, the league moved up the game in Orlando from Saturday to Thursday when the Pride hosted Seattle due to Hurricane Irma. The NWSL could do this as well, but since it is a scheduled televised game that may not work out. That option may be too soon, and not logistically wise since the storm would arrive by the end of the week which could push up the Courage playoff game too early for anyone to travel into North Carolina. Additionally, the teams would have to leave quickly, so they wouldn’t feel the impact of Florence.

The North Carolina Courage have issued a statement advising they are monitoring the situation. 

The North Carolina Football Club is closely monitoring the forecast for Hurricane Florence related to potential impacts on the upcoming home NC Courage NWSL Semifinal on Sunday September 16, as well as travel for NCFC as they visit Penn FC on Sunday evening.

Specific to the NC Courage NWSL Semifinal against the Chicago Red Stars on Sunday, September 16 at 3:00 p.m., at Shalen’s Stadium,  the club is in contact with the League and the visiting team. The safety and well-being of fans, players and event staff is the club’s priority.

Any updates will be posted on NorthCarolinaFC.com and NCCourage.com, as well as shared with fans via email, social media and other communications channels. 

The NWSL needs to act swiftly by coordinating with both teams to move the venue for the playoff game to Chicago or a neutral city since the Chicago Fire will actually host Orlando City on Sunday at Toyota Park.. It will be an unfortunate situation since this will impact attendance and cause North Carolina to travel when they have obviously earned the right to host the playoff match. The prospect for this situation to create another black eye for the league is extremely likely especially if it doesn’t get ahead of this possible weather woe.

Problems With the Pride: Don’t Put It All On Tom Sermanni

Posted on by RJ Allen

When the Orlando Pride were announced in the team’s introductory press conference by the fountain of Lake Eola which is the basis for the team logo, Tom Sermanni was named the first head coach in team history. Since being appointed as gaffer he’s gone on to a 25-26-14 overall record. His tactical vision was able to turn a struggling squad year one into a playoff contender by year two. Granted, the front office was able to sign Marta–one of the greatest players in the game–and her inclusion sparked a potent attack, along with the return of Alex Morgan from an overseas stint in France.

Fast forward to year three of the club’s existence: the path to the playoffs is a bit bumpier, and the offense averaging 1.38 goals per game down from 1.89 the team produced last season. The impatient fan base has started to wonder if Sermanni, who earned a contract extension last season, is the right person to lead the team. Concerns have been raised about tactics, substitutions, and motivation of players down the final stretch of the season.

Recent poor home showings against last place Sky Blue FC and the Portland Thorns have turned the final four matches of the season into must win affairs. But while these performances weren’t great, it is a little too easy to put the blame for disappointing results on the coach.  American fan culture tends to focus on national team players and big name internationals, with some super fans who focus most of their attention on a specific player rather than her team. In this ecosystem, complaints about coaches are common, but few ever put the blame on the players.

Addressing this idea, Sermanni commented, “I know that we’ve got a whole lot of perceived star players, but to be honest, the second half was abysmal in every regard. I’m lost…Our lack of willingness to actually just simply defend is just so poor. And then we go in their malaise where nobody seems to be able to get the team, pick them up and get us back in the game. To be honest, for most of that second-half performance, I apologize to the crowd for coming and keep supporting us because our team on the field didn’t deserve that support in the second half. It was extremely poor.”

Yes, the gaffer is ultimately responsible for results, but we shouldn’t let that absolve players from accountability for mental mistakes and loss of focus. When the players follow the direction of Sermanni and stick with the plan, the team is successful. As team captain Ashlyn Harris said after the Thorns match: “I think the first half we were really committed to the game plan and our commitment to go forward and our commitment to defend was some of the best that I’d ever seen. Unfortunate part about the game is, if you don’t produce and you don’t put chances away, this is what happens. We had them by the throat probably the first 10 minutes and we just didn’t capitalize and as we let the game wear on and wear on and wear on, the momentum clearly shifts. We had one lack of concentration and it cost us the game. We just mentally crumbled.”

The major problem for the Pride this campaign has been lack of consistency more than any true structural issue. In Sermanni’s words, “I would love to be able to say it’s this, or it’s this, or it’s this, it’s either individual lapses where we suddenly get caught out, it’s ball watching when we’ve got the ball and then suddenly we get caught on the counter attacks, or we’re dominating games and we’re just not ruthless enough to put chances away.”

He continued his message a different match, “Déjà I’m saying similar things every week. We started out terrific first 15, 20 minutes, probably searching into the first 30 minutes. I thought we dictated the game, the tempo was good, our attacking was good, movement was good. But then we don’t score. You dominate and dominate in games and you don’t score.”

Frustration and pressure continue to mount for the Pride, and Sermanni has to bear some responsibility. The question is why the players are unable to consistently meet expectations. With calls for his dismissal floating out there right alongside #InTomWeTrust, there’s clearly a lot of theories. But it’s too simplistic to put it all back on the coach. He’s not on the pitch kicking the ball around or defending the opposing team’s striker. He comes up with the game plan and picks the best players to execute this for 90 minutes. But at the end of the day, the players themselves have to go out and earn the results.

Who Are the NWSL Team MVPs?

Posted on by RJ Allen

Every year there is a conversation on who the NWSL MVP should be. We here at Backline Soccer decided to offer 9 nominations, one from each NWSL team.

Chicago Red Stars: Sam Kerr
~Charles Onley

Sam Kerr, who else? It’s not that Chicago doesn’t have other potential options. Julie Ertz is a game-changer; Yūki Nagasato has become one of the league’s most incisive providers; Katie Naughton has grown by leaps and bounds into her defensive role; Dani Colaprico remains as solid as ever. But Sam Kerr is the best player on the planet right now. After missing the opening month of the season for World Cup qualifiers, it took her a few games to settle in with her new team. But since then it’s been vintage Kerr. She’s still scoring goals at almost the same clip as in her record-setting 2017, and is also finding a lot more room for link-up play, thanks to a much stronger supporting cast. At Sky Blue, it was Kerr or bust. Now that she doesn’t have to put the team on her shoulders every week, we’re seeing some livelier and more sophisticated play. Sometimes the easy answer is also the right one. Kerr is the best player in the world, and she should probably be the MVP, even if she did miss a quarter of the season.

Rachel Daly: Houston Dash
~Erica Ayala

Rachel Daly is the solid MVP choice for the Houston Dash. She has nine goals in 20 games this year, good enough for fourth in the league. Daly has been a bright spot for a struggling franchise since her rookie season in 2016. She tallied four goals and three assists in 16 games. The next season, she led the team with five goals and two assists. When healthy, Kealia Ohai is a solid choice for MVP of the Dash. She has four goals and three assists on the season. Sofia Huerta is another honorable mention for the Dash. She has tallied three goals and two assists since being traded to Houston in June.

McCall Zerboni: North Carolina Courage
~RJ Allen

The whole of the starting XI for the Courage should be in contention for MVP. From tip to tail this team has been outstanding on and off the ball. But the heart of the team and the reason it all flows so brilliantly is the work of one McCall Zerboni. Without Zerboni doing what she does to both control the midfield and protect the defense, players like Dunn, Williams and O’Sullivan wouldn’t be having the seasons they are. Someone has to clean up on each team and that role is done expertly than how Zerboni does it for the Courage. 

Orlando Pride: Dani Weatherholt
~Luis Hernandez 

In a season of inconsistent play from a star-studded squad, this year’s Orlando Pride “most valuable player” is Dani Weatherholt. The former Santa Clara midfielder drafted in the first pick of the fourth round at the 2016 NWSL college draft has grown and developed as a versatile mainstay since the team’s first year of existence. As a third year professional, she has translated her defensive grit into offensive tenacity. Coach Tom Sermanni praised Weatherholt’s performance this season after a 2-2 home draw with Sky Blue FC by saying, “I’ve said this before but I would love 10 Dani Weatherholts out on the field and that’s what she’s been for us this season. She’s a person that’s really dragged our team along in games quite often. Whether that’s been a decisive tackle, a decisive run, a decisive goal like it was tonight, or whatever. She’s just been magnificent this year. As I’ve said, I need 10 players doing that. If we had 10 players doing that then I think we would be a little bit further up the table.”

Christine Sinclair: Portland Thorns FC
~Allison Cary

There were lots of options for MVP for the Portland Thorns this season. Lindsey Horan is having a fantastic season, as well as Tobin Heath and Hayley Raso. But my choice for MVP is Christine Sinclair. Sinclair is a versatile midfielder, who has a noticeable impact on both defense and offense. She is ranked No. 5 in the league with seven goals and leads the league in assists with six. Sinclair has worn the Captain’s armband this season and has lead her team to a potential playoff run. Sinclair featured in the June NWSL Team of the Month.

Imani Dorsey: Sky Blue FC
~Charles Olney

Well, it has to be someone. Imani Dorsey gets credit for showing up late after finishing up her degree—and therefore missing some of the worst parts of the season. Since joining the squad, she’s been a breath of fresh air, and provided some of the crucial attacking width and pace that has often been missing for the New Jersey club. Three goals in nine games isn’t going to challenge for the golden boot, but it’s a perfectly serviceable tally, particularly on a team that has struggled so mightily to find the net at times. Her time on the team has coincided with some of their few bright moments on the season, with Dorsey seemingly functioning as the key that has finally unlocked some of the creative potential in the attacking ranks. When and if Sky Blue do find that elusive first win, you wouldn’t go wrong betting on Dorsey to be the goal-scorer.

Megan Rapinoe: Seattle Reign FC
~Erica Ayala

It’s hard to think of anyone but Megan Rapinoe for MVP of the Seattle Reign in 2018. In 15 games, she leads the team in both goals (7) and assists (5). Rapinoe is crafty on the ball, making her a threat to score or create chances for her teammates. She is both exciting for fans and aggravating to opponents, making her entertaining to watch (even aside from her National Team popularity). Lydia Williams has 35 saves and eight clean sheets for the Reign in 12 appearances. The Reign have the least goals allowed (15) and sit in second place behind the North Carolina Courage.

Rachel Corsie: Utah Royals FC
~RJ Allen

The Utah Royals have had an odd season. Players that otherwise would have been in the XI every week have been hurt or in some cases just played poorly. Their attack has been anemic far too often this year but the one player who has been pretty outstanding every week has been Rachel Corsie. The Reign centerback turned Royal’s centerback has shown all the more with Sauerbrunn having missed some games. Her calm on and off the ball and a few Save of the Week wins have really cemented her place as the team’s MVP. 

Aubrey Bledsoe: Washington Spirit
~Allison Cary

My MVP for the Washington Spirit is Aubrey Bledsoe. While it has been a tough year for the Spirit, Bledsoe has been a bright spot. This is her first year with the Spirit, following a trade with the Orlando Pride in the offseason. Bledsoe leads the league with 93 saves and has earned four shutouts this season. With a defense that has struggled, Bledsoe often faces many shots throughout the game and has been forced to make some creative saves. She has earned her share of Save of the Week nods throughout the season, and in Weeks 11 and 12, was named the NWSL Player of the Week.