This past month America has been focused on the women of the soccer world competing for the 2015 Women’s World Cup. The U.S. Women captured their first World Cup Title since 1999, defeating Japan in commanding fashion 5-2. Carli Lloyd carried the team in the first half scoring the fastest hat trick in FIFA’s World Cup history, three goals in just 16 minutes. She was just the 2nd American to win the Golden Ball for best player in the tournament.
It wasn’t just the final match that captivated our nation though, but the entire tournament itself. Normally it’s men’s sports that are the most watched on television. Football, basketball, and baseball dominate the airwaves, and male athletes are celebrated and worshiped on all the network and sports stations. It’s hard to find women’s athletics anywhere on TV, except buried on cable channels.
But this summer all that has changed, and it’s not just girls watching either. This 2015 World Cup win wasn’t just a victory for the U.S. Women’s Soccer team, but a win for women everywhere. Finally women’s athletics have taken center stage, and many are learning what a lot of us already knew.
Women’s Sports Matter – It’s safe to say the U.S. Women’s World Cup matches were extremely popular in this country. Fox, the network broadcasting these games, reports the six U.S.women’s matches leading up to the World Cup Final averaged 5.3m viewers, a rise of 121% over the 2011 Women’s World Cup. The ratings in the Semi-Final game versus Germany were higher than Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Finals. And the Final match drew a incredible 15.2 rating which peaked at 18.3 at 8:45 PM. By comparison, Game 6 of the 2015 NBA Finals when the Golden State Warriors defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers earned a 15.9 rating.
Girl Power – I was heartbroken a few months ago at what our our six year old daughter said while watching a basketball game, “I wish I could play basketball, but only boys play sports on TV.” The message that was sent to our daughters during this competition spoke volumes to every little girl that loves sports. They are now watching, learning, emulating, and becoming inspired to do what their heroes are doing. And our daughter has finally learned that girls can play – just like one of the boys. Sometimes even better.
Patriotism – It’s apropos that the United States captured the World Cup title on the heels of this country’s birthday. While most of us were celebrating the red, white, & blue this weekend with cookouts and fireworks, it’s icing on the cake that the U.S. won their third title. Not only were we all rooting for our favorite players but it brought us together once again as a nation. Plus our kids had some great geography lessons!
And if you still aren’t convinced that women’s sports are gritty and entertaining, watch this awesome ad by Nike. If this doesn’t motivate you to get up and get moving, nothing will.
Next up for this family, a little Wimbledon action. Who says the summer sports season is boring?
Want more soccer? Read my interview with Brandi Chastain on sports and motherhood! Also check out my new web show Playtime where I interview athletes about parenting!
It was a great game! I don’t normally watch soccer (women’s OR men’s), but I’m glad I watched last night! And I loved that commercial too.
What a great game! You’re right that women’s athletics is finally coming front and center. It wasn’t that long ago that Title 9 gave women the right to have equality in sports the public school sector and in my opinion it’s taken that long for a generation of women to develop into fully accomplished athletes in a variety of sports. It will only get better and better!
As a former basketball player and a collegiate runner I can say the one thing that struck me most while watching the awards ceremony is that all the girls were passing around the trophy and hugging each other and acting as one united team. That was so touching and inspiring. I am so happy for all of them! And for women around the world!
That’s a great perspective April, these women seemed so respectful and truly were a team last night. Our girls learned so much about teamwork and determination. It really was an incredible feat for women everywhere!
I am not a real sporty person, but do agree last night’s game was awesome and definitely gave way to some great lessons for all girls and women, too 😉
This is an amazing post and what an amazing game! Such a showing of pure triumph and girl power!
LOVE this! It’s about time people started noticing how awesome these women are! What incredible soccer! I thought you might like this post I wrote about World Cup lessons as well. http://strollersavvy.com/2015/07/the-us-won-and-im-bummed-reflections-on-life/
Sad thing is that we won’t see another women’s soccer game until the Olympics next year…
I didn’t get to catch the game but I was all over the Internet searching for highlights after yesterday’s win. So exciting to see women athletes get the attention they deserve. At least in this case:)
Awesome game. Awesome celebration. Awesome points. This is so exciting for all sports fans.
I was so proud to be watching our amazing team with my kiddos. It was all so exciting and we’ll earned! Yes, sports for girls do matter!
my family and i were watching the beginning of that game in a restaurant at the beach… wow. all eyes were fixed on the pretty amazing girl power sports w plenty of patriotism! impressive…
That video is just awesome. Hands down, best use of that song ever. We didn’t see the final (meant to, but it just didn’t happen), but we did see part of the game on the 26th, and it was a lot of fun to watch. As far as I’m concerned, good athletics and a competitive game are fun to watch no matter the gender. Thanks for sharing more about this…it’s actually nice just to even see soccer getting a bit more respect these days!
That video is just awesome. Hands down, best use of that song ever. We didn’t see the final (meant to, but it just didn’t happen), but we did see part of the game on the 26th, and it was a lot of fun to watch. As far as I’m concerned, good athletics and a competitive game are fun to watch no matter the gender. Thanks for sharing more about this…it’s actually nice just to even see soccer getting a bit more respect these days!
Isn’t it? This ad totally motivated me – great job by Nike!