Category: Opinion

The NWSL Commentary Is A Paternalistic Mess, But It Doesn’t Have To Be

Posted on by RJ Allen

Commentary on the league is relentlessly positive, and it’s a disservice to players and to the audience at home.

I want to talk about a small moment from one of this weekend’s NWSL games. It happened at 67:30 in the Chicago-Portland game, when Christine Sinclair sent a ball over the top for Portland. It bounced freely toward the Chicago box, while Chicago defender Casey Short tried to send it away. But she whiffed her attempted clearance, putting Portland’s Tobin Heath clear in on goal. The shot was saved, but it was a clear error by Short (who otherwise had an excellent game).

There were some mitigating factors. It was a windy day, which had been wreaking havoc with everyone’s timing all day. And it’s not the easiest thing in the world to time a kick on a ball that’s moving away from you, particularly when you know you have one of the world’s best players on your shoulder. Still, this was a mistake from Short, and potentially a very dangerous one.

But when the replay was shown a few seconds later, Lori Lindsey provided the following commentary: “A fantastic ball over the top. So difficult for Casey Short to clear. Can’t get a foot on it, and mistimes it.”

It was a nice ball. But it certainly wasn’t difficult for Short. Even with the mitigating factors, this was a fairly standard clearance, and one that Short would expect herself to execute every time. So why did Lindsey call it “so difficult”?

Now, I don’t want to harp too much on one quick comment made in the spur of the moment. And if this were an isolated case, I’d think nothing of it. But it’s not an isolated case. Listen to discussions of Sky Blue, which constantly discuss their terrible luck, but not their mismanagement and tactical naïveté. Or discussions of Orlando, which emphasize their great mentality and spirit, but casually omit the long periods when they seem unmotivated or uninterested. Or look to discussions of specific players, whose strengths are constantly emphasized but whose weaknesses are omitted. In short, watch any game, and the ratio of positive comments to negative comments will be astronomical. Failures are excused, while successes are hyped. And the result is a discussion that feels relentlessly, oppressively optimistic.

Now, in a young league, in a sport that doesn’t get mainstream coverage, which is still trying to build an audience, it’s certainly tempting to talk this way. Why discuss the negatives? Why not spin everything as positively as it can be spun? But it’s a mistake, for two big reasons.

First, it’s disrespectful to the players. These are professional athletes, of the highest quality. They demand extraordinary things of themselves. To wave away their mistakes, to minimize their flaws, is paternalistic. It suggests that they need boosters, rather than honest commentary. Obviously, that shouldn’t descend into cruelty or attacks. But it’s absolutely possible to provide generous commentary which is also fair and accurate. It does no one any favors to pretend they are flawless.

Second, it’s an evasion of responsibility to the viewers. People tune in expecting the commentators to provide analysis and context. If what they get instead is relentless boosterism, they will not be informed, nor will they gain any new understanding. The point of providing expert commentary is that it can add depth and nuance. That means being willing to accurately describe failures as well as successes.

I certainly don’t want conversations to be entirely negative. Part of what makes sports great is the way they allow us to tap into a sense of unbridled excitement and even a little unreasonable optimism. People enjoy that sense of hope and possibility that unfolds with each new game. We appreciate that, on any given day, the worst team might beat the best or an unheralded player might overcome a superstar.

If broadcasts and commentary want to hype up that potential, that’s all for the better. The NWSL is an exciting league where everything feels possible. Discussing it shouldn’t feel like a grim march of cataloguing errors, tallying up failures, and calculating probabilities. But if everything is positive all the time, there will be no sense of shade or proportion. And that ultimately will only dull the edge of the excitement. In order for the magic to feel truly exceptional, it needs to be balanced by the mundane.

So tell the full story. Don’t shy away from describing failure. Do provide context, but don’t make excuses. Respect the players enough to hold them up to the standards they set for themselves. Respect the audience enough to tell them the truth.

Let The Erik Ustruck Era Commence

Posted on by RJ Allen

There’s a new face leading the Orlando Pride. We’re not talking about first year head coach Marc Skinner, but Erik Ustruck, the first dedicated general manager for the team.

In prior years, Orlando City, the Major League Soccer side who is the parent club for the Pride, would have the general manager for men’s side also act in the same role for the women. At the time, head coach Tom Sermanni seemed to have developed his preferred method to build the Pride roster for his tenure at Orlando. Fast forward to late 2018, Orlando City had parted ways with the club’s general manager, and the Pride head coach position was vacant. The club officially named Luiz Muzzi the general manager for the organization on December 18, and after only a short time there came to the conclusion that to do the job successfully, he could not focus on both MLS and NWSL sides. Erik Ustruck was then named Pride general manager, a role focusing on managing all aspects of the Pride’s technical operations on January 7.

At the time of Ustruck’s appointment, Muzzi stated, “We are very happy to promote Erik to this newly established position, which will allow us to continue increasing our resources and focus on building the Pride. Erik has been dedicated to the success of this Club from his time as a player through his positions in the front office, and we believe he will be a great asset in strengthening and supporting our NWSL operations.”

Prior to this appointment, fans of the Pride had been critical on marketing efforts, and at times a perceived lack of support. Having Ustruck in the role allows allows the coach to focus on the team while still have an advocate in the club front office. His time being a part of the Orlando City organization since 2011, first as a player, then joining the front office after his playing day in 2014. He was able to hire Marc Skinner with a solid understanding of the Orlando organizational environment.

Coach Skinner’s transition as Pride coach has appeared to have gone smoothly with full support of the club. Ustruck was able to add coach Carl Green from Birmingham City to re-join Skinner in Orlando as part of a larger technical staff. With Erik Ustruck as GM, the Pride have broken the mold on valuing draft picks. The team currently hold their first, second, and third round picks while adding Houston’s third and fourth round picks for the 2020 draft where in past years Orlando didn’t put much stock in keeping picks and building through the draft.

The approach for preseason matches were also changed up. This off-season instead of completely playing junior college and college sides, the Pride took on professional teams in the North Carolina Courage and Puerto Rico Sol FC.

Off the pitch, the Pride had a full series of stand alone kickoff week events leading to their opening day match against the Portland Thorns. Some events were mainstays like the fourth annual Scarf the City while adding the open to the public aforementioned Puerto Rico Sol match that drew over 2,000 fans. Additionally, the team held an exclusive supporter group event at Orlando City Stadium, along with Pride in the Park, a family-friendly night out at Lake Eola Park, a venue in the heart of downtown Orlando, with music, games and activities which culminated in the 2019 home kit reveal. The night before the match Coach Skinner hosted at Lion’s Pride, a club owned sports bar, a two hour Q&A session with players in attendance that will also feature the debut of a new menu item, the Pride Burger.

Coach Skinner has suggested his roster is a work in progress. Having Erik Ustruck as GM, allows Skinner to focus on the job of coaching the players while Ustruck can address ways to improve the roster as a whole once the coaching staff identifies potential areas of improvement such as the recent trade with North Carolina for defender Morgan Reid for added depth during the absences of players heading to the World Cup in France this summer. It’s anticipated that Orlando will add more players and fill the two open international slots once the leagues in Europe end their season. The Women’s Super League in England wraps up May 11 and no doubt Ustruck will be busy adding reinforcements.

As the NWSL season begins the appointment of Erik Ustruck seems to have heralded a new chapter in the short history of the Pride. All appearances so far this year make it seems like there is a greater vision for growth of the team’s brand off the field as the changes in support have shown, and if the front office with Erik Ustruck as the focal point show the patience to cultivate results on the pitch for the long haul. It will be a very bright future for Coach Skinner and the Orlando Pride.

Five Questions for the 2019 NWSL season

Posted on by RJ Allen

Can North Carolina continue their incredible run?

Last year, the North Carolina Courage’s completed the most impressive season in the history of American women’s soccer. This is a bold statement, considering the star-studded lineups possessed by some other teams from the past—most notably the 2014-2015 Seattle Reign, the WPS-era FC Gold Pride, and a number of WUSA teams able to draw from the very best players in the world. But the Courage stand above the crowd. Not just for their dominant record, good as it was. And not just for the strength of their roster, though it’s a great roster. But North Carolina is the greatest because of the full team dynamic, which lifted a group of stellar individual players up to become an unstoppable force.

The big question now is whether they can keep the magic alive. It seems impossible to imagine them maintaining the same levels of dominance – if only because the team will be splintered for several months during the World Cup. But based on their performance last year, I wouldn’t bet against the Courage finding a way to continue their obliteration campaign.

Who will step up as the next big star?

In 2015, Crystal Dunn was the final player left out from the World Cup roster. She responded by running roughshod over the league all season. There’s no guarantee we’ll get something similar this year, but there are plenty of candidates who might just seize the opportunity to take center stage and show everyone what they’re really capable of. Lynn Williams is one obvious possibility. It’s never been clear to me why she fell out of the national team rotation in the first place, but her skills are unavoidable. We might just see her improve on her Golden Boot winning campaign a few years ago.

Can Houston take the next step forward?

Many people seem to have Houston as their dark horse candidate to upset the playoff hierarchy, and there’s good reason for thinking so. After entering the 2018 season as a consensus pick for bottom of the league, they showed everyone just how much punditry and predictions should be trusted—performing strong all season and staying in the playoff hunt until the final weeks. This year, with a roster that will be less hit by the World Cup than most, they could level up again.

But there are also reasons for concern. All accounts so far suggest a positive environment around new head coach James Clarkson, but change always invites the possibility of breakdowns or disruptions. Something could go wrong there. There’s also the question of whether the Dash’s offseason moves to remedy some of last year’s weak spots will pay off. Is Sophie Schmidt the answer to a soft central midfield? Maybe. But she’s not the player she once was, so that comes with some risk. Can Ari Romero and Satara Murray shore up the defense?

There’s also the reality that Houston probably overperformed last year. Luck tends to even out in the long term, but one season isn’t necessarily long enough for it to show. So it’s possible they’re in for a bit of regression. On the other hand, as they say, good teams often find a way to make their own luck. So it’s going to be exciting to watch, and see whether their success truly was a bit lucky, or whether it was simply down to resilience, perspiration, and class.

How will the Reign enjoy their new home?

The Reign have moved to Tacoma, and it will be fascinating to watch how the transition goes. It’s an important test for a two reasons. First, Seattle has long been one of the strongest independent teams, but in spite of their success they faced structural problems. This move to Tacoma seems to have shored up those issues, and kept the organization on track. If they can succeed, that could be a good sign that independent ownership really can work. Second, Tacoma is an interesting city for a women’s soccer franchise. It has a reasonably dense population center, and can draw in a huge population base from the broader metropolitan area. But it’s also small enough that the Reign will instantly be one of the biggest draws in town. If they can build a good relationship with their new city, that could be a sign that league expansion might succeed best in cities that aren’t already saturated in sports franchises.

Can anyone displace the top 4?

At the moment, he four playoff teams from 2018 look like strong contenders to reach that status again this year. In an offseason that didn’t feature much movement, it’s hard to identify one of the five who were outside-looking-in that looks especially primed to knock any of the top teams out. One of the NWSL’s big selling points, compared to other top leagues in the world, is the degree of parity among its teams. But there actually hasn’t been that much movement at the top in recent years. Will this year be any different, or will we just get another season of the likely contenders coming out on top?

Welcome to American Soccer: Here’s the Entrance Fee

Posted on by RJ Allen

This is the second article in the series “Welcome to American Soccer,” which focuses on equal treatment and access to soccer in the United States. The articles focus on where U.S. Soccer stands on a variety of issues and where they need to improve.

At an event ahead of last year’s World Cup, a group of ESPN commentators gathered in Manhattan to discuss the upcoming tournament. As the conversation shifted to the United States, who would be missing the highest-level men’s competition for the first time in 32 years, Herculez Gomez went off on the pay-to-play system that operates in the United States.

Gomez admitted that he never would have been able to play soccer had it not been for certain people stepping up to help. He and his brothers had a benefactor who wrote an annual check of $25,000 and a coach that was willing to drive an extra 45 minutes to and from practice.

“It’s very difficult for young immigrant families to pay to play,” Gomez said. “Oftentimes these Latin American kids—it’s not just Mexican-American kids, it’s all walks of life—get overlooked because they don’t have the funds. It’s very much a suburban sport.”

Shaka Hislop was the goalkeeper for Trinidad and Tobago in their 2006 World Cup experience. Now, he’s raising his kids in America, and he’s seen first-hand how much of an investment is required.

“It’s expensive. In all honesty, unless you earn a certain amount you just can’t stay in the game,” Hislop said. “That’s a detriment of the wider player pool, and, honestly, I don’t know what the other option is. There are a lot of opportunities in the game, but they come at a cost and as a result, I think a significant portion of the talent pool is being overlooked.”

Soccer in the United States operates as a “pay-to-play” system. If you want to make it to the highest levels of U.S. Soccer, you’re not going to get there by playing in your recreational league. Instead, you’ll need to join a travel or club team, where costs usually exceed thousands of dollars. Children who come from middle- or lower-class backgrounds, who can’t afford $3,000 a year just to play their sport, never have a chance of being noticed and may never be introduced to soccer in the first place.

This problem has been confirmed by studies on the topic. Roger Bennett and Greg Kaplan published a study in 2013 on the pay-to-play system in the U.S. They compared the background of each U.S. men’s national team member from 1993 to 2003 to each NBA all star and NFL pro bowler over the same period. Using hometown zip codes as an indicator for socio-economic status, the study found that soccer players come from communities that had higher incomes, educational and employment rankings, and were whiter than the U.S. on average. By comparison, NBA and NFL players came from places that ranked below the average on the same indicators.

In many ways, the pay-to-play system has become accepted as an unfortunate reality. Most people understand that it is a problem, but it’s almost impossible do anything about it without reaching the highest levels of U.S. Soccer. But there has been more discussion around it in the last year or two, spurred by two events: the U.S. Soccer presidential election and the CONCACAF World Cup Qualifiers.

During the U.S. Soccer presidential election, many candidates mentioned pay-to-play in their platform and campaigning. Hope Solo made the pay-to-play system central to her argument. She started her announcement by explaining her own experiences with the pay-to-play system, and shared that she wouldn’t have made it without a lot of help from friends, family, and her community. She went on to talk about her belief that the problems in U.S. soccer start at the youth level.

“Soccer has always been a middle class sport and in more recent times, has become an upper middle class sport,” Solo said. “Some of the best clubs around the country charge each youth player between $3000-$5000 per season. I have personally witnessed young players heartbroken over the financial reality that they could no longer pursue their dream.”

Solo’s raw approach to the topic of pay-to-play, and the boldness of her run overall, got the attention of a lot of people. But the issue of pay-to-play also seemed impossible to ignore after the U.S. men’s national team failed to qualify for the 2018 World Cup.

Based on population alone, the United States should have an over-abundance of top-level soccer talent. Many have suggested that the United States could be one of the best soccer countries in the world if we made the game accessible to all people, from all walks of life. But because of pay-to-play, all kids aren’t being given the same opportunities. And as long as certain communities are denied the chance to be successful, the U.S. can never reach its full potential.

Despite the roaring voices of disapproval, there have been very few concrete proposals of how pay-to-play might end. And when former U.S. Soccer President Sunil Gulati was asked about it during the elections, he offered little hope that the highest levels of soccer are seriously thinking about change.

“There’s nowhere in the world that has no pay-to-play,” Gulati said. “What you want to make sure of is that anybody can afford it. But you have millions of kids playing, and the thought that we’re going to end play-to-play is nonsensical.”

Gulati might be right. But there is another reason why some people are so desperate to keep pay-to-play alive: it is a multi-billion-dollar industry. It seems that U.S. Soccer, like many industries, will go where the money is, even if that means leaving some kids behind.

Which seems like odd behavior for an organization deemed a “non-profit.”

So, maybe you can’t eliminate pay-to-play. Maybe the goal of making soccer available to anyone who wants to play is “nonsensical.” But we won’t know if we don’t try, so let that be our north star. U.S. Soccer has an obligation to make soccer in the United States open to people from all walks of life. People shouldn’t be left out because they can’t pay an entry fee.  

The NWSL Is About To Start, Three Things I’m Excited For

Posted on by RJ Allen

Like most who follow the National Women’s Soccer League, I’ve been eagerly counting down the days to the start of the 2019 season. The off-season lacked a bit of drama for most teams, and while there was the occasional huge news drop, like the termination of the deal between the NWSL and A&E which will no longer have game of the week broadcasts on the Lifetime network, the late “will she or won’t she” drama of Tierna Davidson declaring for the NWSL draft, or the Reign FC name change that came with the move to Tacoma. As teams finalize rosters for the upcoming campaign in the shadow of the World Cup this summer, and league activity ramps up to come at us fast and furious, here are what I’m looking forward to this year.

New Gaffers In Charge

One of the signs on how competitive the NWSL is a team changing a head coach when results are poor or when a team needs a new voice to get the players over the hump, and into the playoffs. Washington and Orlando sacked veteran coaches when the teams ended in the bottom third of the standings, while Houston parted ways with Vera Pauw and hold new manager James Clarkson.  I’m excited to see how the Marc Skinner can give Orlando a new identity in what is to be a challenging year. As players heading to the World Cup come and go, will Orlando be able to take a step forward in development? I’m curious how the Spirit will bounce back with what has to be a shift in culture from how Jim Gabarra ran the show. Coach Clarkson has the pieces to finish higher than the 2018 version of the team. However, the Houston Dash appear to have the talent in place to see the team make the playoffs for the first time in team history. Houston appears less impacted from the World Cup as the other teams with new coaches. Could this be the year the Dash make the postseason?

 World Cup Bounce

With the league not on television and attendance dropping for most teams last season, the “World Cup bounce” is something that needs to happen for the league to continue on a positive trajectory. NWSL matches will be streaming on Yahoo Sports domestically, but I want to see what sort of TV deal the league can get in place after the World Cup is over. My expectation is the league has to have at a minimum the playoffs and championship games broadcasted on television. I’m trying to give the league office the benefit of the doubt on having a plan to boost the presence of its players and the product on the field once all the players that missed time in France return. Additionally, I’m hoping to see a spike across the league at the gate. Each team in the league should be thinking of marketing during and after the World Cup, and I know it isn’t going to have the same impact across the teams. I just want the momentum to actually be a thing. Perhaps even have the league announce any plans of expansion around this time. This pipe dream is starting to get carried away.

Can Lightning Strike Twice For the Courage?

I think it’s fair to say that North Carolina was one of the most dominant teams to play in the world. On top of all the Courage achieved domestically, the team came away with the International Champions Cup over the likes of PSG and Lyon. Recently, the ICC was announced to take place in Cary with the Courage defending the cup at home. Obviously the champions of the league last year are also favored for this season, and even though my loyalty isn’t with North Carolina, I’m just looking forward to seeing if they can be as successful this year as they were in 2018. Every match played for the Courage will be must-watch as far as I’m concerned, either to watch the dynasty continue or to see them stumble, it will be entertaining to me.

Those are my top three things I’m excited for this NWSL season. Hopefully, we are all in for a treat as women’s soccer will be in the spotlight. There are several unanswered questions still to be seen, such as how will the season go for Sky Blue or will the Reign attendance change with a new location. That being said: Are you not entertained?

Five NWSL Questions As We Approach Opening Day

Posted on by RJ Allen

The sixth NWSL season is only two weeks away, and hopefully it will be the best season yet. As we prepare for another year of highs and lows, a million questions buzz around: will the North Carolina Courage win the Shield again? Who will be hit hardest during the World Cup? Which players will get suspended for yellow card accumulation?

There are many questions that will be answered in the coming months. Here are the five questions that I am excited to see answered in 2019.

Who will be the best without their World Cup players?

The big event looming over the 2019 NWSL season is the World Cup. It will consume the time and energy of many starting players across the league, leaving room for non-national team players to step up to the plate. The absence of so much talent has the potential to really shift the league and impact the playoff race. But it could also be the chance that launches a career for a player not on the national team radar.

So often, we overlook the talent of players who aren’t on their respective national team. This will be their opportunity to show us why we shouldn’t underestimate them.

What impact will Vero Boquete have in Utah?

The attacking midfielder from Spain, who most recently played with PSG in France and Beijing BG Phoenix in China, is back in the NWSL for the first time since her 2014 stint with the Portland Thorns. I’m excited to see what Boquete will add on the pitch for the Utah Royals. Seeing her play alongside the likes of Christen Press and Amy Rodriguez is going to be fun and might be the boost they need to take Utah to the playoffs.

Will Sky Blue win a game this year?

The answer to this question should be simple: of course. And after a terrible 2018 season, I am looking forward to seeing Sky Blue win a game this year. Between their off-the-field situation and their on-the-field struggles, this is a team that will appreciate every point in 2019. It’s hard not to cheer for them, if only because of all the negative stuff they are forced to deal with. I’m looking forward to seeing them put up a fight, and maybe even lifting themselves up from the bottom of the table.

What will happen when Portland and the Reign clash?

I’m not a supporter of either Portland or the Reign, but this rivalry remains one of the best in American soccer. Last year, these two teams met four times, including in the semi-finals of the NWSL playoffs. Portland’s 3-1 victory over the Reign just before the playoffs was one of the best regular-season matches in 2018, and their semi-final game a week later lived up to the inevitable hype. Both teams have some of the best talent in the league, and when they face each other, fouls, yellow cards, and goals are abundant. They will likely be missing a lot of their superstars for their first match on July 5th, but they’ll play two more times in Tacoma towards the end of the season.

Who is going to beat North Carolina?

North Carolina was unstoppable last year, and the team appears to have only gotten better in the offseason. I think they are the clear choice to win the Shield again, but maybe we will be surprised? Will someone challenge the Courage for the title, or will it be a runaway again? It will be fun to see how the World Cup impacts this team, and whether or not they finish No. 1 at the end of the year.

What Happens if the NWSL Folds?

Posted on by RJ Allen

This piece is one I don’t want to write. And for a long time I didn’t think I would ever write something like this.

And then I watched the Canadian Women’s Hockey League fold. Quickly too.

Take something as simple as their Wiki entry, which went from “The Canadian Women’s Hockey League are a professional women’s ice hockey league” to “The Canadian Women’s Hockey League was a professional women’s ice hockey league.”

It’s just one word, but that “was” terrifies me.

This league is strong enough to have me spending thousands of dollars to cover games and hundreds of hours writing and talking about the NWSL. It’s strong enough to push a lot of talented people to do a lot of work to try to keep this whole thing going.

But what if it isn’t strong enough?

What happens if the house of cards finally falls? If the neglect from media deals and sponsorships that never came to be eventually add up to enough of a breeze to send the cards flying?

Shock happens first, right? Trauma from the body blow puts the whole system into crisis. However it happens, it’s likely that the ax won’t come down cleanly. Even in death, the league would probably find the least graceful way to go. So it would begin with an avalanche of tweets from the media. Then the official statement and the tweets from players come next. Each confused and angry and trying to figure out if they will ever put a jersey on again.

Anger is next. Righteous and white hot. Anger at the system and at the NWSL and at USSF for not saving this league. For knowing they could and not saving the third attempt at a women’s pro league in the most successful women’s soccer country.

Anger at those who would blow $70,000,000 on second men’s pro football league, which the NFL will crush under their heel before breakfast, while even a tenth of that money could have stabilized the NWSL for good.

But the anger can only burn for so long. Because life has to go on.

Some players would head overseas. They would find a team, any team, to take them on. For the top players, it will be fine. There will still be leagues with the money to pay for Alex Morgan or Rachel Daly or Lydia Williams. But for the average player, it will be tougher. There are only so many spots out there, and most of them are full.

Some might play for a semi pro team, figuring that it’s worth sacrificing a bit to keep playing, in hope that another league will come. WPS players had to wait less than 2 years for the NWSL. It’ll happen this time too. Right? Well, maybe.

For a lot of players though, this would be it. They would just retire. How many times can we expect them to change their lives for an uncaring sport, anyway? How many times can we ask them to pack up little boxes and move to another place? At some point they pack up their kits for the last time and get on with their lives. And down the road they can tell stories about how they used to play professional soccer.

If another league does form–a few months later, maybe a few years later–then we all get to start the count down all over again. Hold our breaths every time a mistake is made, feel our hearts pound when one season ends, wondering if that will be the last one.

Backline Soccer won’t determine if the NWSL survives. Neither will any of the SB Nation sites or the Equalizer. We can post 5 pieces a day about each of the NWSL teams for the rest of time and wouldn’t get half the eyeballs that the New York Times sports section would get if they wrote a piece about every Sky Blue game.

The NWSL needs people watching and a deal to allow that to happen. They need good people doing excellent work week in and week out in their front office and with each of the teams. They need money. From new owners coming in, from deals that give them a chance for real growth.

I wasn’t a writer when the WPS folded. I didn’t follow the league. I don’t know what it must have been like when the ax came swinging down.

I hope I never find out either.

Equal Treatment For Women: Step One

Posted on by RJ Allen

This is the opening article for the series “Welcome to American Soccer,” which focuses on providing equal treatment in and access to soccer in the United States. The articles focus on where U.S. Soccer currently stands on a variety of issues and where they need to improve.

After the U.S. Women’s National Team announced their lawsuit against the U.S. Soccer Federation, I wrote a piece for this website explaining the importance of the possible outcome and why I believe the U.S. Soccer Federation has an obligation to provide equal treatment for all players. As a non-profit organization, the U.S. Soccer Federation sets out with the goal of promoting soccer “in all its forms” across the United States. They set the tone for soccer across the nation, and in some circles, around the world. What kind of message does it send if they treat women differently than men?

This is a controversial idea. There is a lot of pushback from people who believe that the U.S. Soccer Federation should be focused on revenue and invest more in the teams that have the biggest business built around them. Mostly, this means investing in the senior men’s team and giving them the best treatment, even if it means leaving the women behind.

Equal treatment for the senior women’s team is a controversial idea. But it shouldn’t be. In fact, this should be the bare minimum for a federation that does far less for marginalized communities.

It is true that players for the U.S. Women’s National Team are treated like second-class citizens when compared to their male counterparts. But those who have made it in U.S. Soccer remain a fairly privileged group, regardless of whether they are male or female. While all athletes are not white nor do they all come from wealth, the system is designed for white, privileged people to succeed.

The U.S. Soccer Federation doesn’t do anywhere near enough for communities of color, poor people, disabled people, or transgender people, whether they are fans or athletes. The pay-to-play system means that children with enough money to play for travel teams are the ones who are noticed by the U.S Soccer system, while children who can’t afford that luxury aren’t even considered. Communities of color remain underrepresented at all levels of U.S. Soccer, particularly African-American communities. Disabled athletes and fans run into issues on and off the pitch, and U.S. Soccer needs to be doing more to make sure transgender fans feel welcome in the stands and transgender athletes feel welcome on the pitch.

I’m sure there are other areas I have not hit on here. And I plan to explore each of these areas more in-depth in further articles. But the point I’m really trying to bring home here is that the U.S. women are already fighting from a position of privilege, something they have acknowledged in discussions about this topic. And yet, they receive so much pushback.

If we want a U.S. Soccer Federation that grows soccer in the United States and fields the best teams possible, we need to make sure it is welcoming all aspects of the American community. Whether that’s immigrant communities, people of color, disabled people, transgender people, or any other community, a great U.S. Soccer Federation includes all American people and treats them equally. Sometimes, that means making investments that might not show immediate returns or taking positions that might be perceived as political.

The women’s battle for equal treatment is only the first step. There are so many people to bring into the community, so many people left to fight for.

Let’s get started.

Conflict Over Jamaica’s World Cup Compensation is a Reminder of How Far We Have to Go

Posted on by RJ Allen

Last fall, when Jamaica’s Reggae Girlz qualified for their first ever World Cup, there was jubilation on the pitch and excitement in the air. But one big question hung over the proceedings: what kind of support would the team get from their Federation?

The Jamaica Football Federation (JFF), after all, has some history here. The team has only made it this far thanks to outside support, most notably from Cedella Marley and the Bob Marley Foundation, whose sponsorship of the program helped revive them after an effective death in the first half of the decade. Even at World Cup qualifying, the team had little chance to train together, and were dependent on support (such as it was) from the CONCACAF staff to manage travel and training gear.  

The hope was that JFF would step up to support the team after it had qualified. And there has been some positive evidence. Jamaica has scheduled friendlies, something that is obviously critical for a team trying to prepare themselves to face the best in the world. But it’s also a testament to just how ignored they have been that merely scheduling some friendlies amounts to progress.

And there is more going on behind the scenes. As reported recently in The Gleaner, JFF and the team have recently been embroiled in an argument about contracts. Part of the argument stems from a disagreement over basic facts. According to JFF’s president Michael Ricketts, contract offers were distributed to the players. But according to the coaching staff, no such offers were made.

Head coach Hue Menzies, who has led the team on a purely volunteer basis, says that this situation was roiling the team, leaving many players in serious doubt about whether they could afford to commit to the World Cup for the summer.

Fortunately, contracts do appear to have been distributed to players and coaches alike in the last few days, settling the immediate dispute.

However, there are deeper issues at work here. Why was the communication so poor? Why was there an expectation of free service from the coaching staff, and external support from the Marley Foundation, for so long? And just how much is actually being made available?

Again, according to The Gleaner’s reporting, Ricketts has made clear that budgets are tight, saying “we can’t sign a contract if we can’t pay.” What is unclear, however, is just what ‘tight’ means in this context. As in many countries, the gulf of support between men and women’s teams is enormous. And it seems implausible that an organization like JFF lacks the funds to offer meaningful pay increases to their World Cup qualifying teams. Especially when one considers the increased payouts authorized by FIFA for all attendees this summer.

It is all too normal, however, for football federations to take prize money and never redistribute it to the players. Followers of the men’s game may remember a contract dispute that almost kept Ghana from playing in the 2014 World Cup, for example. Based on the current reporting, there seems to be serious concerns that this is happening in Jamaica’s case.

All of this happens in the context of broader international conversations about the state of the women’s game and fair compensation. The United States women recently filed suit against their federation for discrimination. The Denmark team recently struck to demand equal treatment, as did the Irish team. Brazil’s players have long fought for more support and recognition, as have many of their South American compatriots in Venezuela, Argentina, and Colombia.

Across the board, it is common for women to not merely get paid less, but also to be housed in worse accommodations, to be provided with worse training resources, and to suffer the many indignities that come with being treated like an accessory rather than the main show.

There has been some progress. Norway has fought long for equality, finally resulting in a landmark deal for equal pay – a deal that still has not been able to coax Ballon d’Or winner Ada Hegerberg to rejoin the team, after her frustrations with unequal treatment. New Zealand were recently able to negotiate an equal pay deal as well.

But even these good examples are limited in scope. Equal pay to individual players is one thing. Genuine equality of treatment—equal marketing, equal grassroots development, equal commitment—is still a long ways away.

It looks like the JFF situation has been settled, and that’s a good thing. But this should be a reminder of just how far we have to go, and just how much of a burden is placed on these women who are obligated to not only perform as world-class athletes, but also to fight for their right to fair compensation in the process.