Former female soccer players share the inspirational impact of the Women's World Cup

Gender equality is becoming more of a reality these days, but we still have quite a long way to go. There still exists a noticeable lack of opportunity for women in sports, especially women's football. Even though many female footballers have shown remarkable skills, they are almost always overshadowed by their male counterparts. The Women's World Cup recently took place and proved to be a very successful sporting event, highlighting talented female athletes across the globe. The finals ended on August 20, with the Spanish Women's team beating the English Women's team by just one goal in a nail-biting match. Owing to social media and more coverage, the sporting event made many aware of the event and prompted them to watch it.

The event got many women thinking about their sporting aspirations and sharing their thoughts about it on social media. Stevie Martin, @5tevieM, a comedian, shared her thoughts on the event on Twitter and how it made her reflect on her past dream to become a footballer. The tweet, which has gained over 22.6K views on the platform, had many women share their experiences in the replies section. Stevie states how she began training but stopped soon after because she thought there was "no point." 

According to her, she felt that she was not ready to pursue an unconventional career. Stevie got a chance to watch the live coverage of the Women's World Cup to see that it was finally getting the attention it deserved and teared up. Indicating that she wanted to delve into the topic more, she said, "Can't wait for therapy this week." She then replied to her own tweet, hilariously stating that she stopped training for the sport because she wasn't really good at it, but that was beyond the point of her post. Stevie reasons that she would have been much better at the game if football was a part of the physical education curriculum for girls.

After this, she shared a photo of a trophy she won at one of her games, which showcased a male player, highlighting preconceived notions within the sport. Another user, @JoannaTilley, who happened to be a comedy writer, replied, "Sorta feel the same. But I think I was 20 years too old and there wasn't much of a point back then. The lovely thing is there's a point now." It continues to be difficult for women to be taken seriously in the sport, but it has gotten better over time. 

@LouiseJohn said, "I'm a lot older than you (late 40s) and was the first and only girl in my school to do football in PE. I qualified as a referee when I was 14. It was just too hard to be taken seriously, so I stopped. I like to think women like us paved the way and helped in a small way." Such a perception of women's football is indicative of broader gender inequalities that persist in society. The sporting community should focus on inclusivity, especially for women to promote equality.