Women's Soccer

“Stop playing like a girl.”

Five words that can quickly bring down someone’s motivation and self-esteem. Over the years, this stereotype has been used as an insult for both boys and girls. It’s a simple way of telling someone they aren’t good enough. Over time, women have done their best to break this harmful stereotypes. Luckily, there are a growing number of celebrities and role models speaking out for gender equality today. 

On Tuesday the NWSL announced the transfer of Kim Little from the Seattle Reign to Arsenal Ladies. To the average American soccer fan or casual fan of the US Women’s National Team, that won’t seem like an important move. However, if you’ve followed the NWSL or the women’s game globally, you will know that the league just lost a massive talent. 

Little’s Journey To Seattle And European Recognition

Repetition, repetition, repetition. You always hear professional athletes talking about getting their "reps" in, as they put in countless hours behind the scenes to truly become masters at their craft. But not everyone has a personal trainer or coach giving them a training regimen to follow, and a common message from coaches to young, aspiring athletes is to spend time outside of practice honing your skills. 

The 2016 NWSL season wrapped up Sunday in Houston as the Western New York Flash defeated the Washington Spirit on penalties. It was an electric match which saw the Flash level the score at 2-2 deep into extra time of the second overtime period. As the book closes on the fourth year for the league (a first for women’s soccer in the United States), we take a look back at the emerging TV deal and also speculate about NWSL expansion heading into 2017. 

First Major TV Deal

Sunday’s National Women’s Soccer League final put the finishing touches on a wild 2016 NWSL playoffs in which all three playoff games went into extra time. With the matched tied 2-2 after extra time, penalty kicks where needed to decide the outcome between the Western New York Flash and the Washington Spirit. 

The scoring started early on as the Washington Spirit scored their first goal in the ninth minute. Five minutes later, the WNY Flash returned the favor and scored their opening goal. 

The 2016 NWSL season was full of historic events, controversy, and growth. However, as the league prepares for the final this Sunday, the 2016 NWSL awards were announced and they spread the accolades across the division. 

NWSL MVP

We recently found out that soccer has caused Carli Lloyd a lot of family drama and strained relationships over the years, but now she might be ready to put soccer aside and focus on her family. 

Sparta Prague found themselves in the headlines for all the wrong reasons last weekend. Following a match between Sparta and Zbrojovka Brno, a match Sparta lost in acrimonious circumstances, two players for the Prague based club responded by making sexist comments towards assistant referee Lucie Ratajova.

Sunday, the Western New York Flash and the Portland Thorns looked to move to the NWSL final. From the very beginning the match was highly amusing, and worthy of the 20,086 rowdy fans at Providence Park.  

Throughout the game the two teams proved women’s soccer is just as exciting and suspenseful as men’s soccer. Both sides recorded 17 shots each. The Flash took the lead in the 16th minute after a throw-in eventually led to Samantha Mewis' foot at the top of the 18. 

Hope Solo no longer has to worry about her shoulder issues. The goalkeeper for the U.S. Women’s National team is currently on a six-month suspension from the team, which gave her time to have much-needed shoulder surgery, which took place this past Tuesday. 

“For the first time in years, I can raise my right arm above my head,”  Solo said in a post on Instagram. “I’m filled with excitement knowing how life-changing this is and I look forward to coming back healthier and stronger than ever.”