You may have heard that the U.S. Women’s World Cup team lost the final match to the Japanese in PKs (some bizarre soccer lingo), marking the first thing Japan has won since Manchuria. And while my heart was broken for the awesomely named, gorgeous-eyed, valiant American goalkeeper Hope Solo, I must begrudgingly commend the people of Japan for what seems like the only good news they’ve had recently. One thing the Women’s World Cup did do was generate excitement. As miraculous as it may seem, people were genuinely interested in women’s soccer.
Honestly, how could you not be? The Women’s World Cup was amazing. Replays of Abby Wambach’s last-minute header still give me chills. Women from around the world played with skill and passion, and people watched. But why is it that aside from a few huge events such as the Olympics and World Cup, women’s sports are often relegated to the periphery of popular culture?
Unfortunately, the fact of the matter is that many people here at this university, in the United States and around the world couldn’t care less about women’s sports. Of course there are exceptions, but for the sake of gross generalities, this is a useful one. Many women’s professional sports leagues seem to be the awkward younger siblings of their male counterparts. Both the WNBA and LPGA Tour are far less popular and lucrative than the NBA and PGA Tour are.
In recent years we have begun to see women breaking into major men’s sports; Michelle Wie on the PGA Tour and Danica Patrick in NASCAR are two prominent examples, but these women are the exception rather than the rule. As a former baseball player who still remembers giving up a home run to a girl in a championship game, the claim that women cannot compete with men is simply false — she was one of the best players in the league.
We at this university are lucky enough to have some of the best female athletes in the country. Our field hockey team has won seven national championships, competitive cheer has won four and women’s lacrosse has 11. All three teams were national champions just last year in 2010, and under coach Brenda Freese, women’s basketball has been a perennial contender and won the 2006 NCAA championship. We love our lady Terps and do a good job of supporting them; field hockey led the nation in attendance in 2010, and women’s basketball has been top 10 in three of the past four years.
This week College Park is playing host to the CITI Open, a Women’s Tennis Association event that has brought some of the world’s top players here to College Park. Tennis is probably the professional sport with the most parity between genders in terms of fan base, prestige and wealth. The Maria Sharapovas and Venus Williamses of the world are just as famous and wealthy as the Rafeal Nadals and Rodger Federers. And yet, I have barely heard any mention of this event going on in our own back yard.
As a broad trend, the lackluster support is a concern: In a nation obsessed with sports, where are the women? While the NFL and NBA have both undergone lockouts to bicker over how to divide their riches, women’s leagues struggle. The Women’s United Soccer Association folded in 2003 and it was not until 2009 that the Women’s Professional Soccer league was formed. The sad fact is that when people do not care as much, there is less money. Since this seems to be the year to talk about money (even the federal government is doing it), it is important to note the university’s athletics department is some $83 million in debt. I hope that whatever changes are made do not negatively impact our female athletes, who have brought our university the majority of our national championships (23 of our 38). And when you get the chance, watch a women’s game, you won’t be disappointed.
Rob Riker graduated in May with degrees in government and politics and history. He can be reached at riker@umdbk.com.
