History Women's Soccer Research

* Title IX * Demanded equal funding to all genders for federal-funded education programs in 1972 * 1979 was the Title IX Athletics Policy Interpretation * In 1970, 1/25 North American school girls participated in a school sport….in 2006, it has increased to 1/3. * Soccer is 4th most popular, after basketball, volleyball, and cross country * Soccer holds the greatest growth curve: In 1977, only 2.8% of campuses offered soccer for women, however 88.6% of campuses offer it now – an increase by 40 times (40 fold increase). (Williams 2007, 34). * “Very little has been given that has not been carefully asked for, shrewdly lobbied in favour of and defended on behalf of the women’s football community” (Williams 2007, 35). * Because men’s soccer isn’t as dominant in the US as it is in Europe, it has allowed room for women’s soccer to compete for attention (36). * “If [Michael] Jordan is a larger-than-life brand, then Hamm is a very human heroine” (44) * Other early soccer: * Nineteenth century elite Japanese women played a version that took place on a court * Native Americans – Folk Football * First British (and most legitimate) game took place in Iverness, Scotland in 1888 * 1894 – first association for women was formed (Williams 2003, 26) * Women’s soccer in Britain * 1921 – English Football Association announced their decision that the game was “unsuitable” for women to play and banned them from playing on any FA fields. This severely limited the women’s game because they suddenly had nowhere to play (33). * Pre-War * Much like baseball in the U.S. during WWII, women’s soccer began popping up with relative frequency during WWI (33). * “By 1925, the first wave of women’s soccer had already effectively ended” due to the FA ban and allegations of financial dishonesty amongst women’s teams (Pettus (Smith), 247). * In 1918, the U.S. hosted