Research from Wake Forest University in 2011 showed that female soccer players are half as likely as men to flop and fake an injury during a match, and this video featuring Barcelona’s Barbara Latorre demonstrates just that.
The Harvard men’s soccer team has been suspended for the remainder of the season by the University following an investigation over an appalling "scouting report" that ranked women’s team players.
A quick refresher: USWNT star Megan Rapinoe chose to join other athletes in kneeling during "The Star-Spangled Banner". We first saw Rapinoe participate in the silent protest on September 15, 2016, and that was not the last of it. Various athletes are refusing to stand during the anthem to draw attention to racial injustice in this country.
Is there a diversity problem in women’s soccer? As other sports have made strides to include players of all ethnicities, most youth, college and professional women’s soccer teams in the USA are still mainly comprised of white players.
This lack of diversity has led organizations to try and overcome the problem, and over the past few years, strides have been made to make the sport more inclusive, but it just doesn’t seem to have come far enough.
Barriers To Diversity
“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.
Lynn Williams made her USWNT debut in a friendly against Switzerland earlier this week, coming on as a substitute at halftime.
Forty nine seconds later, Lynn Williams scored her first USWNT goal.
Not bad.
Contact The18 Staff Writer Sam Klomhaus at Klomhaus@The18.com or follow him on Twitter @SamKlomhaus