Women's Kick Against Soccer

By George N. Spitz
Newsday
Tuesday July 12, 1994

George N. Spitz is a former political and sports columnist for Our Town, a Manhattan weekly.

I'M EXCITED ABOUT the World Cup. On opening weekend, I saw all six games, even passing up the Knicks and Rockets for Sweden versus Cameroon. By reaching the second round and defeating Colombia, one of the tournament favorites, the United States team, last victorious at a World Cup match in 1950, may have drummed up America's interest in the sport -- just in time for Major League Soccer, a professional league that begins next year.

  If Major League Soccer proves successful, World Cup officials say that the U.S. team could soon be competitive with soccer superpowers Argentina, Brazil, Germany, Netherlands, England and Italy. But unbeknownst to most, an American soccer team is already ranked No. 1 in the world -- the Women's National Soccer Team.

  It won the first-ever Women's World Championship in November 1991, before a capacity crowd of 65,000 in Beijing. In an action-packed match, the U.S. defeated Norway 2 to 1. Norwegians were able to watch the final live on two channels. I saw a tape-delayed version several weeks later, aired after midnight on the Sports Channel. American press coverage was miniscule -- no doubt this will also be the case on Aug. 3 when the U.S. women's team faces China in the Chiquita Cup in Piscataway, N.J.

  Major League Soccer has no plans to include women's teams. This reflects the same short-sightedness the late Howard Samuels demonstrated in the eariy '80s when he was trying to save the now defunct North American Soccer League. Samuels considered, but eventually rejected, a plan calling for the Cosmos and other teams to sponsor women's squads that would share play dates -- that is, "doubleheaders." That concept might have sharply increased the number of spectators. Certainly, allowing women to compete on the same level as men has boosted rather than detracted from the popularity of major tennis tournaments, such as the U.S. Open and Wimbledon. Moreover, professional basketball for women has gained acceptance and even made profits in Italy, Spain and Japan. In light of the enthusiasm shown in Beijing, the World Cup would probably be even more popular if it held a women's tournament as well.

  But appealing to enlightened self-interest does not guarantee equality for women. In-your-face activism may be necessary. Women's tennis rose to prominence in the 1970s only after Billie Jean King and her colleagues demanded equal prize money and their own tennis tour. In 1981, Brooklyn native and pioneer women's judo coach Rena "Rusty" Kanokogi filed a complaint against the United States Olympic Committee for failing to include women in its judo competition. The USOC promptly invited the top five female judo athletes in each of eight weight divisions. However, Rusty and the other plaintiffs did not withdraw their complaint until the Olympic Committee paid $28,000 as compensation to top-ranked women who had been forced to pay their own way to tournaments, while male judo athletes were reimbursed for all travel expenses.

  And last March, under threat of strike by the Black Coaches Association and under pressure from U.S. Rep. Cardiss Collins (D.-Ill.), the NCAA agreed to increase significantly the participation of minority females and blacks in sports.

  Creating an equitable climate in all aspects of sports -- coaching, managing and.competing -- requires public protest and legal action. Past experience proves that athletic equality is not easily bestowed by the overwhelmingly white male governors of professional and amateur sports.

  The new professional soccer league could be particularly vulnerable to well-organized protest and legal action, since much of the competition will take place in taxpayer-funded stadiums. But nothing will happen unless fans of women's sports kick and scream their way onto the field.

The Progressive, Pro-Peace choice in the New York City Democratic Primary for City Council 5th District on Manhattan’s Upper East Side and Roosevelt Island.