Homan Sanaie Between June 19 and July 10, 1999, the biggest women’s soccer tournament will commence. Yes, I said women’s soccer. The third edition of FIFA Women’s World Cup will take place in the United States. There will be sixteen teams involved in the competition. The popularity of women’s soccer has been growing since the first Women’s World Cup in China seven years ago. Back then, there were only twelve teams entered in the competition. The elite teams for women are basically the same as for the men. The best countries in the world for women’s soccer are: the United States, Norway, Germany, Sweden-and China. The United States won the first ever Women’s World Cup in dramatic fashion by beating Norway 2-1, The US scored the winning goal in the final minute of the game. The second Women’s World Cup was held in Sweden in 1995. The Norwe- gians got their revenge on the United States, beating the US 1-0 in the semi- finals. Norway eventually won the World Cup by beating Germany in the final 2-0. In 1995, the Canadian Women’s World Cup women were involved in the World Cup for the first time, Canada lost twice, to England and Norway, and tied Nigeria. That was a good experience for the Canadian women. They will try to qualify for next year’s competition (Let’s hope they do better than the men). Right now, four teams have qualified for the World Cup, the United States, Japan, China and North Korea. Twelve more teams will qualify for the World Cup by the end of this year. The popularity of women’s soccer has grown tremendously since the first Women’s World Cup back in 1991. Considered the best female soccer player in the world, Mia Hamm has been one of the most marketed female soccer players. She has done commercials for Nike and Head and Shoulders. Last month, Mia Hamm won the Espy (The ESPN Sports Awards) for best female soccer player. With women’s soccer becoming more popular by the minute, ABC and ESPN will cover every match, from the first game of the World Cup at Giants Stadium in New York on June 19, to the final at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California, on July 10. There is even talk about having a professional women’s soccer league in the US. Maybe the women’s professional league will be just as popular as Major League Soccer (MLS is the US men’s professional league). In 1996, at the Summer Olympics in Atlanta, women’s soccer became a full medal sport for the first time. Team USA won the gold medal. The US and Norway will be heavy Pro r Pro: The advocation of a women’s professional hockey league Hamish Knox Today it is en vogue to start a profes- sional sports league for women. Indeed, two pro basketball leagues have sprung up in the States, a women’s professional fast-pitch softball league is up and running, and there is now talk of a women’s pro soccer league. While all of these leagues are great for giving women an opportunity to earn a living playing sports that they love, the sport that should have a women’s pro league has been overlooked—hockey. Long before Nagano, women’s hockey developed a strong, dedicated following. Attendance has steadily risen at the World Championships, giving women’s hockey a good fan base to build on. The naysayers will bring up the tired old argument that people won't pay to watch women's sports. This argument has no support any more, since the ABL (American Basketball League—Women’'s Basketball) champion Columbus Quest Women in averaged 8,000 fans per game and the inaugural WNBA championship game in Houston sold out. Obviously, real sports fans don't care about the gender of the players they are watching, as long as they see a well-played, competitive game. Ifa women’s pro hockey league is to succeed, the game must be changed slightly. Body checking must be allowed, the theory that women are too suscepti- ble to injury and must be protected from damage to their reproductive systems went out when women’s rugby was recognized as a sport. The rules regarding fights should be the same as in the NHL. If the players want to fight each other, why not? It should be their choice. However, fighting will probably never be allowed in women’s hockey because the sport’s ruling body won't want to have their product (i.e. the players’ faces) damaged. The talent pool in women’s hockey is small right now, so the league size Olympics Celebrating 98 years of participation Monique Tamminga 1900 women were first allowed to participate in the Olympic Games. This is almost two decades before we were allowed to vote. The first sports women were allowed to play were croquet, golf and tennis. 1926 Gertrude Ederle is the first woman to swim the English Channel. Her time, fourteen hours, thirty-nine minutes and twenty-four seconds, beat out the last five swimmers who just happened to be all men. 1976 Fourteen year old Olympic gymnast, Nadia Comaneci, earned a perfect score, achieving seven tens. 1992 China’s Zhang Shan is the first woman in a mixed (men’s and women’s) shooting event to win a gold medal. Men were so threatened by Shan’s win that by the 1996 Atlanta Games, the rules were changed back to men and women competing separately at the shooting event. 1996 US Women’s Basketball teammember, Sheryl Swoops, is the first woman athlete to have a basketball shoe named after her, it’s called AirSwoops. Women’s soccer becomes an Olympic medal sport. 1998 Women's hockey got to play in the Olympics for the first time and received much needed media interest. Canadian women took home three out of the five golds including curling and two speedskating golds accomplished by Catriona Lemay Doan and Annie Perrault. Women in Olympics ¢ Still not getting the same attention as the opposite sex for 98 years. * 1996 United States Olympics Committee had a one hundred member- Board of Directors and only 19 members were women. ¢ Women receive scarce low amounts ‘of “subsistence” grants and sponsorship. In 1992 American woman only:received 35% of the USOC grants given to athletes for their living and training expenses. © 1998 Winter Olympics, Canada’s women’s hockey did receive an honourable silver yet were over shadowed by the overwhelming media coverage and popularity of should reflect this. An eight team league with two four team divisions would be very competitive and could expand as the number of talented players increases. The league should not, however, expand insanely a la the NHL with its watered down talent base. At max a women’s pro league should contain no more 16 or 20 teams, to keep the league for the elite players (unlike the NHL). An imagi- nary league might look something like this: West Division—Winnipeg, Saskatoon, Seattle and Portland; East Division—Hartford, Quebec City, Hamilton and Baltimore. Winnipeg, Hartford and Quebec City all deserve consideration, since all of them had their NHL franchises uprooted and moved to more “profitable” cities. Hamilton deserves a professional team besides the CFL Tiger-Cats and it has been passed over too many times by the NHL. Seattle and Portland are supporting very successful major junior franchises. Baltimore did support a Roller Hockey Canadian men’s hockey which received (a not-so-honorable) fourth place. ¢ TV ratings for women’s events were low this year. According to the Vancouver Sun, men’s curling, men’s bobsledding, men’s hockey and men’s ski jumping were most watched team for a few years, and since the Baltimore Ravens of the NFL have little or no chance of making it to the playoffs, Baltimorians will need something to pass the time until their beloved Orioles begin play in April. Due to the media coverage of women’s hockey at Nagano, there are more than enough recognizable names to go around. For starters, how about Judy Diduck and Cammi Granato, sisters of the NHL’ Gerald and Tony respectively. Hayley Wickenheiser, the 19-year-old phenomenon, and Danielle Goyette are two more players that staked a star status claim at the Olympics. Finding goal scorers won't be a problem, not with Karyn Bye (164 points in 87 games at the University of New Hampshire) and Sandra Whyte (140 points in 75 games Infighting: in Women’s Sports Hamish Knox Women’s sports have advanced past the days of sexist male statements like “girls are too weak,” and “girls get hurt too easy” (for the most part). However, a new problem has arisen in women’s sports, one that pits women against each other. This issue is lesbianism. Homophobia is very prevalent in today’s society and it manifests itself most obviously in sports. During the Olympics, a rumour was started that the head coach of the Canadian’s women’s hockey team, Shannon Miller, was sleeping with one of her players. If Canada didn’t win the gold medal, the excuse would have been that “the team was full of dykes,” if Canada did win, the issue of homosexu- ality. would have been swept under the rug, until such a time as the Canadian Hockey Federation wanted an excuse to Shannon Miller, Internet photo favourites to win the World Cup. Maybe one day the Women’s World Cup will be just as popular as the Men’s World Cup. at Harvard) roaming the ice. And the netminders who will be turning aside the shots of the above mentioned scoring machines? Manon Rheaume, first woman to play professional hocke and “The Great Wall of China” Hong Guo, who had a 2.75 goals against average in the 6 games she played in Nagano. While her 2.75 Gaa looks pal to the American and Canadian averag which were under 1.50, consider that the Chinese only scored 11 goals in th Olympics and Guo routinely had to fa Dominik Hasek-like shots (45-60 per game). A women’s pro hockey league will work. Fans will support it, the media will cover it and the product on the ic will be excellent quality. Just don’t let Bettman get his hands on it. Lesbians push Miller out the door. In today’s hyper-competitive world o college athletics, playing for a homo- sexual coach is a big issue with the parents of the high schoolers. Mike Flynn, head coach of the Dayton Flyers, a top women’s AAU basketball team, sa “T know some [gay] women coaches who ar some of the best coaches and people know. But some people try to make a bigger deal out of it th it is.” This attitude of homophobia towards wome| coaches costs young athletes a chance t be taught by probably the best coach they will ever have and possibly a free college education if they don’t receive any other scholarship offers. Homoph bia is an issue in today’s world of women’s sports. However, an athlete or' coach should be judged on how good they are at playing or coaching, not th sexual orientation. Q 4 March 11, 1998 The Q ther Press