Jessica Wallace
“What is women’s soccer?”
It’s a question Sophie Schmidt answered in one word.
“Everything,” the Canadian player told me after repeating the question.
She had just been knocked out of the Women’s World Cup during the quarter-finals in Vancouver, but beamed while snapping selfies with fans, including a hilarious one with my group of friends.
The question came because, after joining a group of fans that travelled to the Lower Mainland for the tournament, I’ve played my own defence off the field.
Discussions over the quality of play can be boiled down to a single heavy comment from the opposition: “It’s women’s soccer.”
It’s hard to swallow, having played the sport since I could walk, as a team organizer in Kamloops Women’s Soccer League and, frankly, because I’m a woman and it’s an insult.
Even the FA backtracked after tweeting England’s players would “go back to being mothers, partners and daughters” after the tournament ended because — no, that’s not all they do.
But, like a beaming Schmidt after a loss, I’m taking the high road.
In giving people the benefit of the doubt — I’m assuming that, in 2015, sexism isn’t an issue, right? — let’s just say there are some who must be confused, some who maybe missed something.
For clarification and recap, here’s a little perspective on women’s soccer.
It’s the Netherlands’ masterful possession back and fourth while so deep in their own zone Japan’s offence could pounce at any moment for a shot on net.
It’s that same Netherlands team, whose goalie may as well have been called a sweeper for how active she was in regular play and how often she ran out of her safe zone to control the back end of the field.
It was Japan’s midfielders who spread so wide on the field they went beyond getting chalk on their boots and, at times, were actually off the field, ready to make a diagonal run onto the ball, give and go or spring for a cross.
It’s England’s Laura Bassett saying she preferred nobody knew her name after accidentally scoring on her own team in the 92nd minute to lose to Japan and miss a chance at the final.
It’s 55,000 people standing and screaming in B.C. Place Stadium among a sea of red when Canada lost to England.
It’s “a tournament that broke all records” according to FIFA, which included record-breaking audience numbers — in the stadium, on television and online — and the first-ever hat trick scored in the tournament’s final.
In Kamloops, it’s veterans and university players competing on the same pitch.
At World Cup, it’s really just some of the highest calibre of soccer in the world.
And, for some — it’s everything.
– Jessica Wallace is a Kamloops This Week reporter.
