Fantastically, ESPN is broadcasting all the games from this year's Women's World Cup in Germany. The quality of the soccer thus far has been very good; as well as the quality of the refereeing, the stadia, etc. And ESPN is doing a good job with coverage, with comments and interviews by Viola Odebrecht, Julie Foudy, Cat Whitehill, and others.
At present, women's professional soccer in the US is struggling with only 6 clubs left in the WPS (Women's Professional Soccer) league; it seems two teams on average are folding every year, and at that rate, the league is not going to last long, which is a real shame. My own team, the Atlanta Beat, had an incredible international squad last year, but still finished last, and due to budgetary reasons the squad and staff have been decimated, so that we're operating on a skeleton set-up at the moment (and are in last place, with one win in twelve games). There are rumors that the Puma sponsorship is being withdrawn from WPS (or discontinued), which is again a bad sign for the league. It's going to take a while to establish women's professional soccer in the US, so I hope the WPS will survive for a few years more, but the economics of it are tough. It's important that owners not look for a quick turnaround in profits, but take a long-term view with the best interests of the women's game in mind. Hopefully the USA will go far in this year's Women's World Cup, and that will go some small way to promoting women's professional soccer in this country.
My favorite player in the WWC thus far: Louisa Necib (Olympic Lyon), the women's game's "Zinedine Zidane" (like him, she's of Algerian descent and is from Marseilles). A very nice and skilfull player to watch!
At present, women's professional soccer in the US is struggling with only 6 clubs left in the WPS (Women's Professional Soccer) league; it seems two teams on average are folding every year, and at that rate, the league is not going to last long, which is a real shame. My own team, the Atlanta Beat, had an incredible international squad last year, but still finished last, and due to budgetary reasons the squad and staff have been decimated, so that we're operating on a skeleton set-up at the moment (and are in last place, with one win in twelve games). There are rumors that the Puma sponsorship is being withdrawn from WPS (or discontinued), which is again a bad sign for the league. It's going to take a while to establish women's professional soccer in the US, so I hope the WPS will survive for a few years more, but the economics of it are tough. It's important that owners not look for a quick turnaround in profits, but take a long-term view with the best interests of the women's game in mind. Hopefully the USA will go far in this year's Women's World Cup, and that will go some small way to promoting women's professional soccer in this country.
My favorite player in the WWC thus far: Louisa Necib (Olympic Lyon), the women's game's "Zinedine Zidane" (like him, she's of Algerian descent and is from Marseilles). A very nice and skilfull player to watch!
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