From the Inside Out

Wow! Rupert's commments about are pretty spectacular! And dead wrong! Did he miss the part about 47,000 watching Canada v. the U.S. in the U19 final? When girls and women actually have the chance to see their women's soccer teams play, they come out in droves! All we are asking for is the same opportunities that boys and men get! Most of those fans were screaming, soccer-playing girls, who, along with women, make up the majority of players in organised soccer leagues in North America.

Yes, Rupert, you read that right. In North American, there are more women and girls playing soccer than there are boys and men playing, and the gap is growing.

You see, Rupert, unlike men, who support soccer by getting fat, sitting on their ample behinds and drinking beer while pretending to know the game and how it should be played, girls and women support the soccer by actually PLAYING it! Therefore, we have earned our place!

Eventually, the sheer numbers of women and girls who play soccer and want to see their game on television and in the stadiums will be so overwhelming that we will no longer be ignored.

Go Big Red!!

I wonder where all you supporters of Women's soccer are when they actually do play on home soil or are televised. Judging by the abysmal tickets sales and ratings for any women's sports...you are not likly supporting them with your actions...just your mouths.

Let's face it, sport is something that in general is more important to men than women and in general, men prefer to watch men play...as do women.

The Canadian women could win the World Cup for women and the vast majority of soccer fans, both men and women would not care.

The truth hurts, but it's still the truth!

Womens soccer doesn't get the attention it deserves.As a female soccer player myself all i want to do is play for the womens team. I want to show people that not only men can be good at something and that women are capable of success.
It's a shame the games aren't televised.These women work hard and there hard work needs to be acknowledged.

The CSA just couldn't care less. It seems that relatively more money has been spent in the men's team in the past. To be perfectly honest, the Canadian men's soccer team is not very not delightful to watch: no style, no skills, no characters and no fighting spirit, unlike the women's team! The CSA, despite of its huge success in the youth world cup held last year, did not utilized the money earned. When USA got the honey pot after the 1994 world cup, they poured in a lof of funding to both men and women teams. The results says it all. For the CSA, it is pretty pathetic!

Although Robin brings up some great points in her article she should turn the "looking glass" around and point to the media as well. The women are in the Olympic qualifying final tonight and no Canadian sports related station is even giving a result let alone highlights or God forbid airing the game! The media is just assisting the CSA in not recognizing the women's team.

CSA?
what CSA?
The way I look at it, the 'governing body' of Canadian Soccer is just a cardboard cutout of what it really should be. The CSA it matches the mediocrity of 'banana republic institutions' all over CONCACAF. Lack of vision, short and long term, poor prioritizing of resources, not enough corporate backing (if any at all) are some of the many points the CSA is lacking. Im not necessarily talking about support to put a national soccer league to run again - that ship sailed a decade ago. But the unconditional support the women's program justly deserves and then not given... What are we doing to remain competitive in Women's Soccer? Nada, Squat!

Sad but true: The CSA (or the shell of it - since to me there isn't really one out there) should not only be replaced but also re-engineered with new purpose and goal in mind... Short, mid and long term strategies that will benefit the Canadian game both for women's and men's soccer in this country. Such a shame that despite having a good pool of talented athletes in the sport, we could be looking at the edge of a precipice, a real big one, where the fall might be so hard and deep that the Canadian game could be lost for good. Thank you CSA for showing us how to make our soccer players irrelevant to Canadians' sport fans. Well done.

I totally agree. What can
we do abou it. The sports pages are full of mens sports and very rarily is there anything about women.

agree with most all of the above, except the belief that the CSA did a good job with the men's U20. they did their usual lame-ass effort.
these turkeys couldn't sell a tin of tuna to a stray cat.

It's great the women are getting some attention, and the CSA is putting some funds into the program.

But in terms of how much, I think it needs to be divied out according to the professionalism of the program/players. The simple fact of the matter is that most women in the game are amateurs. There are a number who play full-time, but they are living a lifestyle that the sport and marketplace can and does not support. It's like shot putters or high jumpers choosing to only train all year. They can almost never recoup their investment.

In Men's soccer not only is there an enor mous amount of money and capitalization, but the talent band is extremely thin. And the odds of being a major individual talent on the world stage are a thousand times higher than on the women's.

In a few decades, when the women's game can approach that level of competition, then we can see an even split in resources. In the meantime, we continue to contribute what we can to help them get there. That's not nothing, and that's not half... it's a percentage share with regards to the professionalism in their game compared to Men's soccer.

I love and am a huge fan of both Men's and Women's soccer, and that's not a GO MENS or MENS SOCCER ROCKS comment. It's simply a rational opinion on funding in terms of and gender and equity.

Thanks Robin for writing this piece about women's soccer in Canada. For all those who were watching Canada beat Mexico on CBC.ca or on GolTV, it was a nail biter til the very end! GO CANADA GO!

But that game SHOULD have aired on CBC TV Sports Live, and been promoted with personal back stories to build viewer interest, the same way we learn about Kovalev's father coming from Russia to watch the playoffs in Montreal this week.

I was there filming in Costa Rica four years ago when Canada lost the nail biter to Mexico for the last Olympic qualifer in 2002. In fact, we made a great feature documentary film that aired on tv which followed the team through the 2002 World Cup (when they made history finishing fourth), and have great behind-the-scenes footage with the players during the last Olympic trials in Costa Rica that NEVER aired on TV.

Now since Canada has beaten the demon and BEAT Mexico this week to go to the Olympic Games, we would love nothing more than to update this film to air leading up to the Olympics in August!

Overall, I think looking for solutions is a place to start. We have GREAT news with Canada's women going to the Olympics and it is not too late to show our Canadian pride, by supporting these girls with more money and media coverage. Are you listening CBC?

As for the ongoing drama of the CSA, someone like Andrea Neil, an incredible, honourable personal, player and Captain for so many years (who just retired), would be a GREAT person to infuse new life and passion into the CSA. You need soccer players or soccer fans who put the players needs ahead of organizational politics.

CSA is full of it. The women's national team is the leader in terms of accomplishing success out of any CSA team. Were is the funding?? They the CSA continues to pay SR players for games, Under 20 for games win or lose, yet what have they accomplished? Bring it to a fair playing field for all teams. You see sponsorship of BMO,sony,air canada, taking there claim on the csa website, yet winners is the only one to step forward and try to help the women's team out. The CSA continues to take any money the women's team gains and puts it towards the men's program. With the first ever berth to olympic soccer by the women's team, you would hope and pray to god that some moron in the csa, will wake up and do something positive to support the team. If not we will be back at square one again. Hoping that private funding from the likes of a true supporter can help the lift the team to the next level. Show the team some respect!!!

The biggest problem with soccer in Canada is that most people born in this country don't really care about it and it's mainly run by people born elsewhere who really don't care about people born here!
Sorry if I ruffled any feathers, but when was the last time someone without an accent spoke on behalf of the CSA?
Only when Canadians take charge of the Canadian Soccer Association and foreign-born soccer enthusiasts realize that native-born Canadians can have informed opinions on the game will the sport even have a chance in Canada. It's sad to say but its like the attitude Canadians have about hockey in reverse, many Canadians don't believe someone born outside Canada can really understand the game. I guess we are getting a bit of our own medicine.
Enough slagging the CSA, let's get behind our soccer, men's and women's. And that includes the media, when was the last time our senior national championships were televised, never! Yet the national media will televise almost any hockey game.
It's time for everyone to take the blinders off and view all sports with an unbiased eye and appreciate what the athletes are doing, regardless of results.

Congrats to the women for making the Olympics.

As for your comment:"The Canadian women’s team is ranked 9th in the world. The men’s team is ranked 62nd. Where do you think the focus should be?", that is very problematic about the Canadian focus. The world focus is on
men, and that is why the World Cup is a male
event synonymous with football. The CSA has
to spend money on Men AND Women soccer, so
that the players can play at their best.
The men had only 2 weeks to prepare, and
placing third was in itself miraculous!

As for the best female player in the world,
as much as Sinclair is very skilled, I'm sure
people who KNOW soccer would point to Marta
of Brazil, and Germany's Birgit Prinz as
the BEST in the WORLD. A little research
would have revealed these ...

I disagree! Hosting the tournament did nothing for the men U20, I think the home advantage hosting is over-rated when it comes to soccer, especially when those in the stands don't always support Canada.

And to tell the truth, I'm sick of Canada playing hosts ... *If they need to be hosts to qualify then there is something wrong and hosting doesn't solve it!* There should be more money, sure, that's nothing new, but what little there is I don't think should be frittered away hosting tournaments. Hosting sucks.

I'm writing this blurb after reading that the ladies have qualified for the Olympics by beating Mexico last night. Excellent Job Ladies! You are the greatest!
But you are right in saying the women's program has done well in spite of the lack of support by the CSA. Just goes to prove that the ladies will do what they have to do to get the job done.
I agree that the CSA have supported the men's program by hosting the U20 Men's World Cup, which was a huge success and helped to promote soccer in this country, but I think this is what the CSA should be doing. PROMOTING SOCCER.
However I believe that the CSA should give the women's program equal opportunities for development. So when the CSA begged off hosting the women's Olympic qualifier because they made no money off U20 men's tournament and had nothing to help the women's program I almost choked on my coffee!
And then we find out that Haiti said they would step in (not sure how it got to Mexico), I simply couldn't believe my ears. CANADA didn't have the money, but HAITI (a country we give foreign aid to!) did? Laughable.
Give me a break. How can the CSA have possibly lost money on such a hugely successful tournament? The attendance numbers alone were way more than they expected. Sponsorship came in droves...Please!
Isn't it time the CSA had their books audited because something isn't right here!Sport Canada should look into this mess consider replacing the board of directors who are so old school it is not funny any more.
Maybe there should be more women who have been through the women's soccer program to sit on the various boards so that the voice of our women's national teams can be heard louder.
And finally, it is clear that there is plenty of support for soccer, women's and men's, in this country. The reasons why soccer is not promoted better can also fall to the media. Was the Olympic qualifier televised anywhere in Canada or was it a mere footnote on the sports sections of the news?

"The Canadian women’s team is ranked 9th in the world. The men’s team is ranked 62nd. Where do you think the focus should be?"

A comment like this is exactly what is wrong with soccer in this country. The CSA doesn´t do much for womens soccer no, but just the fact that it is easier to name womens national team players then it is to name the men´s proves Canada shows a lot of support to the womens program. They should be happy with what they have too because in most countries, fans are busy watching their local soccer teams while their womens world cup team is in the FINALS (ie Brasil).

MENS SOCCER ALL THE WAY

It's nice to see that someone has finally outed the CSA. Kudos to Robin!
It is terrible to see how hard these ladies have worked and how much commitment they have made to female soccer in Canada, only to have the CSA abandon them. The CSA raised the registration fees of the recreational players across Canada so the those funds could be used for player development and to support our National teams. However there is not a fair sharing of those funds between the female program and the male program. Both programs are producing many great players. The men go off and play professionally making good money within the sport, but they never financially support the system that developed them. They take, but never give back! The female program has attempted to form a professional league for the best players to play in, but lack of financial support has made it hard for the players to make a living at the sport they love. I think the female players need better support from the CSA if they ever want to rise in the FIFA rankings and ultimately win the World Cup or the Olympics. Perhaps the money collected from female registered players in Canada can be routed to the development of female soccer and the Women's National team. Female soccer registration is on the rise in this country and our women's U-19 National team united Canada when they played in the final against the USA in Edmonton. What has our men's team given us to cheer about lately......

The CSA needs to not only heavily back our women's program, but to fight for coverage of all of our national squads. Not a single Olympic qualifying match for the men's squad was broadcast on a Canadian station, and I believe the story is the same for our women's squad. THERE ARE SOCCER FANS IN THIS COUNTRY, yet it seems that no one in a position to do anything about it realizes this. The CSA just underwent changes to it's board of directors. They should be given some time to get fully set up, but somehow the message needs to be brought to their attention from the fans that the lack of media coverage and national exposure is pitiful and in dire need of change. I frequent the Canada Soccer website, which itself is terribly set up and confusing to navigate, as it is the only way I can seem to get any information regarding upcoming fixtures for any of the national squads. This lack of exposure is confusing, as soccer is the fastest growing sport in this country. Why not fully embrace it?

Hi,

How can we take the CSA organisation seriously when they don't have a technical director even a president ? There is a very bad problem of direction in canadian soccer. In a first time, how can we afford a U20 men team that can't score a goal in a competition and at the same time we dont support our women team ? I think there should be new blood injected in the CSA. The persons in place have to let go and be replace by younger. But, its not only the CSA problem, today our women team is trying to qualify for the Olympics and there is no broadcasting of the game. I think ther is no interest by CSA and Sport Canada in women soccer.

Thanks so much for publishing this article. Because it is 100% true. The women's team doesn't get any respect and everything is with the men's team. Which isn't doing any good and we keep losing player's to other countries. (i.e. Owen Hargreaves) Because the opportunities are just not here.

The women's team is absoutly amazing! And the CSA are cheap for not wanting to host this tournament. Why is it we always lose the good tournaments for womens and not for the mens?? But then our men's under 20's couldn't even score a goal while we were the host country.

That is really to bad that we haven't had a home game in over two years, because I think we would really have a GREAT

I absolute agree with Robin. I would also point out that international curling, womens hockey, junior hockey, Sugar Ray, gets almost hour by hour coverage by media (radio + TV) news casts, yet womens Olympic soccer qualifiers are not even mentioned. I would have thought that at least today where a win puts our girls into the Olympics would be different. But no,not even CBC Radio, let alone any of our local broadcasters deemed this news worthy only hours before game time. And this in Christine Sinclairs home province. At least some of us will be watching CBC webcast of tonights game against Mexico. Go girls go.

You hit the mark with this story. Really a travesty that the team has to play in such a hostile environment when it was their turn to host the qualifier. High elevation, heat, and worst of all, absolutely brutal fans (I can’t repeat some of things that were heard at the US v Mexico game on Thursday). Expect the same reception tonight. If the Canadian team loses this one, it will be in no small part because of the failure of the Canadian Soccer Association’s lack of support for this great group of girls.

I am disgusted by the CSA'a decisions to completely get rid of womens soccer. The men flat out suck compared to the women. This year the women were disappointed by a tie to Australia in the womens world cup, disqulifying them to place. I believe that if the womens world cup had been more publisized in Canada and if the CSA actually cared about the women maybe they could place first. In the USA, the women are publisized very well, and they are also doing amazing. The Canadian women are not publisized well at all and tey still do good, maybe if they were publisized better, then they could go farther. I think that the men could not get much better in this world of soccer while the women still have a long way to go. They should be treated with the same respect as the men do. I plead the CSA to change their ways.

seriously eh. why the hell are we spending so much money on the men's team and hardly any on the women's when clearly we are the team that will be more successful. CSA really boggles my mind sometimes, no all the time. Just cause it's a women's team....wow thanks guys!

Don't take it that hard but over all.That association along with the provincial ones does not do their job as they should.It seems like they don't want soccer to grow neither to succeed in Canada. Sports in general are not as valuable as for people making money machines in this country to pay taxes. Besides hockey and baseball does not want competition.

On going problem that encompasses the whole Women's Program & has done for decades.

Presently even the parents of the Women's WC U17 team are looking for more funds. See www.u17soccer.com

Really sad & disgusing that 1/2 the membership of the CSA & the soccer community has to look for funding in this day & age.

On the postive it's great that the Women's Program does so well on little money so hat's off to them for making us proud!!!

No kidding. If only the CSA and other Soccer organisations could forget their little fiefdom political games. Ha fat chance. A bunch of twits more worried about their image than the game and its participants. Its not only the CSA though. What about the media. Where are these games. I have to watch it on cbcsports.ca. Why not on CBC the TV channel. Lets get with it and support these ladies.

How true it is! My wife and I are so disgusted with the sports support in Canada as a whole. We are presently struggling to watch curling on the internet and would dread trying to watch soccer in this medium. Another one suffering support is womens hockey - just terrible.
We admire these sports because of the skill displayed, the apparent sportsmanship (sorry) and heart. It is regrettable that people in our fair country will support a game they refer to as our National Game when all you observe is bad sportsmanship and if anyone does display any skill he is stymied by another goon who does not have that skill. For that kind of play we are sickened but really are more frustrated by the fact that money and programming does not go towards good clean sport that we can all enjoy.
You mention the mens soccer team - I guess this is in name only as they really are not soccer players.

Another example of how women are not given a fair share of the glory that they deserve. Maybe Canada really hasn't matured as much as we like to think, when it comes to how we treat our women in sports, business and politics.

Don't worry Robin, the CSA puts no emphasis on the men’s program either. When it comes to running a successful, competitive program, they are incompetent.

What a poor job of research. A very weak and shallow article.

The main issue with the CSA is the chronic and historical incompetence of the CSA’s operation and administration of all things soccer in Canada, which is far from being limited to the gender based issue that the “journalist” is attempting to make it out to be.

Simply put, aside from a registration head tax, the CSA can’t generate revenue streams from sponsorships, competitions, or marketing opportunities from a global sport that is a multi-billion dollar industry.

Ms. Brown’s article should be about the lack of accountability and transparency emanating from the CSA.

If this was hockey or curling every “journalist” would be digging in to this.

Follow the money! Follow the government’s money! All government funding to the CSA should have been cut off ages ago, but Sport Canada hasn’t figured out that it’s being played!

Given that the CSA won’t consent to a change in auditors, let alone a full blown forensic audit certainly supports the notion of where there’s smoke there’s fire.

If the CSA was a private corporation, specifically without public funds - it would have been insolvent many years ago!

Ms. Brown, where do think the focus should be now?

It is also a shame that the games aren't televised. Watching the game on a computer screen just is not the same. If any of the womens teams comes to Toronto I'll be there, they have done so well. Good luck.