Women's World Cup delivers month of fun, challenges | Candace McKibben

When I moved to Tallahassee from Nashville, Tennessee, in the fall of 1990, with my then 5 and 9-year-old daughters, they, like me, were familiar with girls’ softball, but not soccer.

It did not take long for us girls to learn that Tallahassee had a wonderful soccer community with opportunities for boys and girls, whether children, teens, or adults. My newlywed husband was one of the staunchest supporters of the Tallahassee soccer community, and before you knew it, our blended family was regularly at the Meadows off Meridian Road for weeknight practices or weekend games.

Though I knew precious little about the game and was 35 years old, which seemed to me a little late to learn, my husband encouraged me both to play and to help him coach.

More a soccer mom than player or coach, I enjoyed the opportunity to be with my stepson, Cory, a born athlete, to get to know the other children, and also to get to know other parents, including Don and Taska Zorn, whose son, Austin, was also quite athletic, and a delight to be around.

Meeting Tallahassee talent

What happened over the course of a few seasons of play was not only the blossoming of a friendship between the McKibbens and Zorns that we treasure to this day, but also the blossoming of an incredible soccer player in Austin’s little sister, Susanna.

Too young yet to be on a team herself, whenever my husband would teach Cory and Austin some helpful maneuver after practice, like bending the ball into the goal on a corner kick, Susanna was right there in line to practice it, too. And before long it became evident that Susanna was the true star among the three eager students.

We loved attending FSU Women’s Soccer matches when Susanna was on the team. It was thrilling to hear the roar of the hometown crowd when one of their own took the field. And while I do not think of myself as a rabid feminist, I am thrilled by the success of the FSU Women’s Soccer team through the years, as well as the other women’s sports teams at FSU and the other colleges and universities in our midst that work hard daily and find success frequently.

Women and the World Cup

Beginning on July 20, 2023, the world began turning to the competition of stellar women athletes across the globe who are passionate about the game of soccer. The 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup is jointly hosted by Australia and New Zealand, and will be played between July 20 and Aug. 20.

It is the first of the nine Women’s World Cups to be hosted by two countries and to be held in the Southern Hemisphere, where its winter temperatures look appealing.

There will be 32 teams from six federations competing in 10 host cities. The US Women’s National Team is the defending champion, having won the previous two World Cup Championships in 2019 and 2015, and the smack talk has been strong for weeks.

Records trace the origin of soccer, or football as most of the world refers to the sport, back more than 2,000 years to ancient China. Greece, Rome, and parts of Central America also claim early roots. But most say it was England who transitioned the sport into what is played today, recording the first uniform rules for the game, although some suggest Scotland may have had the first rules and clubs.

Though thought of as the “world’s game,” women of the world have only relatively recently been allowed to play. After a charity football match in Liverpool in 1920 between two of the 150 British Ladies teams at the time, a match that was attended by more than 50,000 fans, the Football Association in England placed a ban on women’s football for 50 years, ending in 1971.

Some of the players on England’s 2023 Women’s World Cup Team, the Lionesses, started playing as children on boys’ teams because there were no girls’ teams or enthusiasm for girls playing the sport.

But for the month-long period of time that extends between July 20 and August 20, 2023, there is considerable enthusiasm for women playing football or soccer around the world.

A challenge to watch the games

There has been much in the news in the past few years about pay equity for women in professional soccer and the US women players have been leading the charge.

Now, Hannah Waddington, the best supporting actress of the “Ted Lasso” series, who plays Rebecca Welton, the owner of British football team AFC Richmond, is campaigning during the Women’s World Cup for “watch” equity. She is troubled by the statistics that women make up 40 percent of athletes but receive 10 percent of sports coverage.

She says in a recent article in USA Today, “I did not know before getting involved with Ted Lasso that both the England and American women’s football teams are far more successful than their male counterparts, and yet they only have 10 percent of total sports coverage. It was literally like Scooby Doo saying “ruuuh?” when I heard that.”

So, she is challenging us to watch women’s sports and in particular the Women’s World Cup. Because the FIFA Women’s World Cup is in Australia and New Zealand and the time differential is between 12 and 15 hours depending on the venue, this will be quite a challenge.

The first two US games will be broadcast beginning at 9 p.m. EST on July 21 and July 26. The third game will be at 3 a.m. EST on Aug. 1. The times of the remaining games for the U.S. depend on the wins but will either be very late or very early. If you are smarter than me, you might know how to use the various remotes and firesticks affiliated with your television to record the matches, but otherwise it will be quite a commitment to watch.

But a fun one! And amidst all the heartache in the world, with extreme weather events, continued political strife in our nation, the ongoing war in Ukraine, increased hate crimes, systemic injustice and sadly, a tragic and rare shooting in Auckland, New Zealand, the morning before the world cup kickoff game there, it is important for us to find ways to celebrate the goodness and joy that can still be found every day.

As we become one world, competing to name the best women’s football team among us, I pray safety for the women players, enthusiasm for the fans whether in the stadiums or gathered around televisions around the world, and a refreshing reminder for us all of our oneness as humankind.

The Rev. Candace McKibben is an ordained minister and pastor of Tallahassee Fellowship.

This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Meet the fun challenge of watching Women's World Cup soccer