Moving Forward, Staying in the Same Place

This afternoon at 2:00 ET we'll witness history that's too long in the making. All all-female officiating crew, led by Frenchwoman Stéphanie Frappart will take control of the Group E match between Germany and Costa Rica. Frappart will be joined by assistant referees Neuza Back and Karen Diaz (from Brazil and Mexico, respectively) in the match, which is a must-win for the Germans if they hope to advance.

FIFA has a history of doing fuck all for the women's game, even under pressure. The organization historically cares about money, cash, and dolla dolla bills, y'all, not so much about equality. Even as they proclaim support of LGBTQ+ causes, they gave a World Cup to Qatar (more on that in a moment). But in this area, they've been on the right side of things. FIFA started a program after the 2015 Women's World Cup in Canada to bring male and female officials together to train, review decisions, and analyze situations. Women are beginning to get opportunities to officiate high-level competitions regardless of the gender of the competitors. Frappart, Back, and Diaz are among six women working as officials in Qatar.

Lest one think this is some sort of equal opportunity selection, we should note that Frappart has serious chops and experience. She's a trailblazer, having been the first woman to referee in men’s Ligue 2, then Ligue 1, then the UEFA Super Cup and Champions League before getting the assignment tomorrow. 

Given our well-publicized (and they don't call The Teej the best PR guy in the business for nothing) disdain for FIFA's corruption as related to the decision to award the 2022 men's World Cup to Qatar (saying nothing of all the other corruption), it is ironic to note that women are blasting through this particular glass ceiling in a country where they're second-class citizens. Qatari officials have succeeded in squashing Budweiser and clamping down on pro-LGBTQ+ protests, but even they can't boss FIFA on this particular issue.

Progress, measured in baby steps.

On the other side of that ledger, however, same as it ever was here in the U.S. on at least one important front. Dogged journalists did a phenomenal job of bringing to light sexual improprieties rampant in the American women's game earlier this year. Former U.S. Attorney General Sally Yates' report on the issue noted that many issues start at youth levels, where men have historically occupied an overwhelming majority of coaching positions, especially at elite levels.

According to a WaPo story last week, not much has changed in the composition of coaching staffs and club leadership. The Post found that men represent 85% of the leadership of the clubs that comprise the Elite Club National League (ECNL), the most prominent national competition for women. Further, 90% of the top coaches for those clubs are men. 

To paraphrase Taylor Swift, I'm the problem, it's me. Or people that look a lot like me. Though I'm working on it. I'm the President of the Board of Directors of an ECNL club. (ECNL players represent a small portion of our overall player rolls, but are very visible representatives of every ECNL club.) I'm very proud of the work our Club has done to increase the diversity of our programming. We launched a Women in Coaching Leadership Series last year to give our female coaches (and those of other clubs) access to prominent voices in soccer, training, and leadership. We provide pro bono training to students at Title I schools in our community. We created a Junior Board of Directors to provide some of our kids experience in organizational leadership. We have a cadre of excellent young female referees. We're working on inclusion.

We just aren't all the way there yet. At present one of our eight Board members is a woman. And all of us are white, for what it's worth. 14 of our 48 girls travel teams are coached by women, most of those at the youngest ages. 

All of these numbers are better than they were five years ago, and none of them are good enough.

Progress, measured in baby steps, again. I'd like to get to some of those moon strides before I walk away from this role.