During last year’s FIFA World Cup, Australians once again threw their support behind the Socceroos.
There were viewing parties, there were big screens set up in parks, and there were people getting up on weekdays at 3am to support the team. This was not only restricted to die-hard fans, but also those who don’t usually care about soccer.
The nice thing about events like the World Cup or the Olympics is that getting in on the excitement of supporting your country is not limited to people who are generally into the sport. People just want to be involved in barracking for someone on the world’s biggest stage. There is buzz months beforehand in the lead-up, there are news stories, there are advertising campaigns, and there is a sense of excitement that builds as seemingly the entire country dons the green and gold.
Many of us are currently experiencing this kind of buzz and excitement, but it has not yet spread enough to the wider population. We are two weeks from the start of the 2015 Women’s World Cup, to be held in Canada. We are two weeks from Australia’s team, the Matildas, playing an exciting opening game against the absolute powerhouse that is the United States.
The Matildas are just like the Socceroos, except they are ranked 10 in the world, and are more accomplished. They are like the Socceroos, but are paid a quarter of the average national wage. In 2014, Matildas player Katrina Gorry and Socceroos player Mile Jedinak were both awarded the same best player awards by the Asian Football Confederation and the Football Federation Australia organisations.
So they are like each other - except that Jedinak earns millions of dollars, while Gorry supports herself by working eight hours a day in a Brisbane café, while also studying a diploma of business.
The Matildas are like the Socceroos in that they love their sport and dedicate their lives and their bodies to soccer.
Unlike the Socceroos, receiving a call-up to the national team can actually hurt them financially, because they have to stop working their day jobs to dedicate themselves to their country.
They are different to them in that they will tirelessly continue to train, and play, travel, and cop serious injuries without financial benefit. The Matildas face sexism at every turn, from men in media agencies commenting on their looks, to people dismissing what they do, to the leadership of FIFA being sexist not only in what they say, but in how the women’s game is treated in general. A point which is illustrated by the Women’s World Cup being played on turf, something the male players would never be expected to do.
I am not saying that you should support the Matildas because of pity.
You should support them because they are a great team, and their skills warrant respect.
Before you start to argue that women’s soccer isn’t high quality or enjoyable to watch, please take a moment to consider if you have even seen a game, or if your reflex is to assume that women are automatically lesser than men.
As someone who watches both the A-League and the national women’s W-League, I can tell you that there are some differences.
Yes, the women are not as powerful, yet they still score incredible goals. The women are not as physically strong as the men, but they dive about 10% as much as the men do.
It is a more tactical game, but the tactics don’t involve the same theatrics the highly paid men carry on with. It is incredibly skilful, and yet they rarely get to show off the skills in front of crowds in nice stadiums. When you watch the women’s game, try to imagine how good they would be if they were plucked out of school as teenagers and allowed to concentrate full-time on developing their football abilities, like their male counterparts. And then be impressed at how good they are anyway.
Part of the reason the W-League and the Matildas haven’t had as much support is because it has not been easy to access their games.
But this time, you have no excuses, with the SBS playing every single Women’s World Cup game live. The Matildas have a very young (an average age of 23) and very exciting team.
They are in an extremely tough group, but have expressed confidence that they are going to have a red hot go and try their hardest to improve on their 2011 quarter-finals appearance. This team, female football players from around the world, and female athletes in general deserve our support.
If you like soccer, or you watched the Socceroos play even though you don’t really like soccer, I implore you to take advantage of SBS’s wonderful, overarching television coverage in a couple of weeks, and throw your support behind Australia’s best football team.
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