Stoppage Time Special: The Fight Against Soccer Sexism

Soccer has a unique power to unite people across boundaries, but two significant challenges threaten this unity: the pressure adults put on young players and the barriers women face as fans. This special Stoppage Time edition of Pitch to Pro explores these crucial conversations through highlights from Part 1 of our conversation with Her Game Too.

When it comes to youth soccer, Jenn and Natasha share a critical insight: we're failing our youngest players by prioritizing winning over enjoyment. "Starting them young to fall in love with the game is where we're lacking," notes Jenn, highlighting how the pressure to perform steals joy from three-year-olds who should be discovering soccer through play. Parents and coaches often unwittingly sabotage children's relationship with sports by imposing adult expectations. The solution? Support their exploration, protect their enthusiasm, and help them find what they genuinely love about the game.

The episode also illuminates the powerful story behind Her Game Too, a movement fighting sexism in soccer culture. What began with a group of UK women tired of hearing "get back in the kitchen" at matches quickly went viral, revealing a widespread problem. Fascinatingly, the movement's expansion to America uncovered cultural differences in how sexism manifests – British women face explicit verbal harassment, while American women encounter surprised reactions to their knowledge and unwanted touching in sports bars. Despite the prominence of women's soccer in America, female fans still struggle for acceptance, challenging perceptions that the US had moved beyond these issues.

Through personal stories of bringing Her Game Too across the Atlantic, we witness how grassroots movements can create meaningful change when ordinary fans step into leadership roles they never imagined for themselves. Whether you're a parent, coach, or fan concerned about soccer's future, these conversations provide valuable perspective on making the beautiful game truly accessible to everyone. Subscribe, share your experiences, and join us in building a more inclusive soccer community.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:03):
Welcome to the Stoppage Time edition of the
Pitch to Pro podcast.
This is a highlight reel ofsome of the best moments from
the show so far, and every otherweek we will be bringing you a
special five to seven minutesegment featuring the best
stories, tales and moments ofthe podcast.

Speaker 2 (00:19):
Falling in love with the game, I think is the most
important part.

Speaker 3 (00:22):
I love that.

Speaker 2 (00:23):
Starting them young to fall in love with the game
that they follow through is, Ithink, where we're lacking,
because we don't start kids orwe're putting too much pressure
on the kid when they're younginstead of letting them fall in
love with it.
It's you got to win, like nowyou're a three-year-old, but you
got to win you know kind ofthing, and that's where so we're
making them fall out of lovewith it instead of falling in

(00:45):
love with that that's such agreat point and it's something
that I've always tried to bevery conscious of, because I am
a former player and I am a coachand can be.

Speaker 3 (00:58):
you know, I did grow up in an era where it was a lot
of winning and a lot of pressure.
So I'm glad that you said that,because I think I actually
posted about this a couple ofdays ago.
I think too often it's adultsthat are brewing a game for the
kid 100%.
It's not that they fell Parentson the side.

(01:20):
Yeah, yeah, parents or evencoaches that are focused on the
wrong things, or referees orwhatever it is, but so often
it's adults in that kid's lifethat ruin it.
And it's any sport, it's notjust soccer.

Speaker 1 (01:34):
Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 3 (01:35):
But if you allow them to find the things that they
love and support them.
And fantastic, obviously,soccer, but you know, whatever
it is, piano Right, how can Isupport you?

Speaker 2 (01:46):
Exactly Right, yep.
Help them fall in love with it.
Don't don't take it away fromthem.

Speaker 3 (01:52):
So who's so?
Talk a little bit about how didher game to kind of as an
initiative movement programstart?

Speaker 2 (02:03):
uh, from from the beginning there so in the uk
that there was six or seven ofthem.
They got together and theyrealized the sexism over there.
For them, like just to go to agame, uh is they're getting told
, get back in the kitchen, youdon't belong here, you know
nothing, um, and all the othercomments even worse than that,

(02:26):
um.
So a girl named kaz may, she,chatting with her other friends,
realized this is a problem notjust at her team, but all of the
teams, and so she got togetherand decided let's do a video and
release this video and see whathappens, kind of thing.

(02:47):
And so they created the video.
They posted it the day of theFA Cup game because they knew
most people are going to be onTwitter that day because you're
watching the FA Cup, you'regoing to be involved social
media wise, and it justskyrocketed, I think in an hour.
It was trending, so definitelywas a problem.

(03:08):
And she had they had a socialmedia page and it just blew up
with people following it leftand right and and I actually
watched it on that day Iremember sitting there watching
this video, going, wow, you know, kind of like it grabbed your
attention, because these arepeople who, if you look at their
other social media.
They're bubbly, happy people andthey look so serious it makes

(03:31):
it stand out.
So that's where it started.
And then I like I said I saw it.
It was like we get that here inthe States in a different way
because we don't.
I've been to so many soccermatches because I used to be a
season ticket holder for theChicago Fire, so I've been to

(03:52):
multiple games.
I don't hear that stuff LikeI'm good with going.
The comments I would hear isyou actually know the game?
Like in good with going?
The comments I would hear isyou actually know the game?
Like in a surprising tone, likeyou don't say that to a guy
when they say something, so why?
So it's a different aspect.
And then also going to the pubthat's where I was having my
issues.
Going to watch a game at a baror a pub, that's when the sexism

(04:18):
would come in and not go backto the kitchen, but the touching
or pretending to brush by kindof thing.
And that's where I was likewell, I need to talk to Kaz and
figure out how to bring thathere.

Speaker 3 (04:32):
How do.

Speaker 2 (04:32):
I do that Like what did you do there that I can
replicate here?
And so that's how it came tothe States.
I met with her obviously notphysically, not with her.
We FaceTimed with each otherand it was like an hour and a
half conversation of just goingover everything.

(04:53):
And she was surprised itactually happened here in the
States.
She really thought because ofus having the women's soccer and
they're blowing up and how goodthey are, that everybody
followed women and lovedwatching the women play.

Speaker 3 (05:06):
It's interesting to see what people's perceptions
are outside of the country orthe market right.

Speaker 2 (05:14):
Exactly and I was like whoa, okay, if you're over
here you know differently, butit was neat, like you said, it
was great to hear that side ofit.
And then we started working onokay.
So she's like all right, youwant to bring in the States, I
give you full authority to do it.
So then the pressure was on meto make it happen.

(05:35):
So we redid the video withAmericans.
Wow, because we didn't want tojust redo her video reposted,
right, um.
So she's like can you find abunch of american girls who have
had issues and do the samevideo?
Um, so we did.
I reached out to a bunch ofpeople trying to get videos and,

(05:55):
uh, and that's kind of where itkicked off from.
So so how?

Speaker 3 (05:59):
long after the UK group kind of did their video
and launch, if you will, to whenyou reached out to Kaz and
started that.

Speaker 2 (06:09):
They launched, I was probably five months, six months
before I, because it was moreof a, it was a partly me,
because I wanted to ask themright away.
And then I'm like I don't know,maybe it's not a problem here,
maybe it's just me Like.
So I started talking to myfriends and kind of in my circle

(06:29):
of people and going do yousuffer anything?
Do you have a problem?
What would you think?
And I was even asking, becauseI am a part of a club up in near
Chicago and I was asking thepeople there what do you think
if I brought this campaign here?
What do you?
What do you?
Because I'm not much of aleader per se, so this was a

(06:50):
huge leap for me.
So it was like okay, what do Ido here?
And everyone's like you need todo it, do it.
So it took me five months andthat's when I reached out to Kaz
.

Speaker 1 (07:02):
Thank you for joining us for this stoppage time
special of the Pitch to Propodcast.
If you've enjoyed theconversation, you can click
watch the full episode here.
Be sure to tune in nextThursday for a new episode of
the Pitch to Pro podcast, theofficial podcast of Ozark United
FC, Available on YouTube,Instagram and everywhere you get
your podcasts.