Do you see what I see in this picture?

[CTyankee]

[NightWatcher]

1. When we see it will we shit bricks?

[CTyankee]

5. The answer is serious, as was the implied question...

I cannot understand why our World Cup winning soccer team and coaching staff are all white...

So many of our female American athletes are women of color I am surprised to see not one minority included in this photo.

I am not a big sports fan, but my husband is and he is quite knowledgeable. He pointed out how few POC there are in the NHL. I'm not understanding the reason for that either...

We discussed it briefly this morning and I realized I needed lots more info from people who are knowledgeable...surely there has been research done on this...

This question in no way negates our thrilling win at the WC. Those women played their hearts out and they deserve every praise they are getting...

however, I keep thinking, there's gotta be a reason I can't quite get...my first thought was access to playing fields that affluent white suburbs have and black communities don't have. That makes some sense to me...

I look forward to hearing from our DU community on this issue...

[GeorgeGist]

8. Sydney Leroux. eom

[CTyankee]

12. so, with such a great soccer star as she...well...

[NightWatcher]

21. Outrage Crusader, must find something wrong with everything

I'm sure there's an exhaustive tryout regime to make the team, and I seriously doubt that non white athletes are kept off the team.

[CTyankee]

86. hmm, quite a hyperbole in the opening of your post but I'll brush off the insult...

I will agree that there is an extremely high bar to make the team and nobody is "kept" off the team because they are nonwhite.
So that is a given for starters, as far as I am concerned (and actually stated above). My point is that we discuss why our team and coaching is all white and some here have addressed this seriously and without jumping to any conclusions. This IS a discussion board after all.

As I have said there are barriers to nonwhite, non suburban minority community to participate in soccer, unlike other countries in the world that have mixed race teams. I think we should find ways to make soccer more available to all kids. Provide space and money for equipment and coaching, for starters...

[LondonReign2]

111. Are you unaware that

Sydney Leroux, Shannon Boxx, and Christen Press are on the team?

[CTyankee]

162. now I'm not. I sure wish I could have seen them in the famous photo...it would

have been nice.

The picture is the picture.

[MrMickeysMom]

242. Well, a picture may be a picture...

… but, I thought you were really talking about the team…

Women's soccer is going to explode after this win. It should have after the 1999 win. But, this will enable the respect it should have in terms of what they win when they win (fractional from mens!)

Then, and only then, will the field open with more equal opportunity, which includes more players of color.

[Baitball Blogger]

267. The sport did have a huge bump after the 1999 win.

Woman's soccer did see a surge as young girls flooded the sport. But I can tell you that the coaches were not ready. They played a gritty game where speed and physical might were given more attention than the skills that make soccer enjoyable to watch. The coaches simply did not have the skills to teach the girls how to play possession ball. So, a well-rounded player required private lessons. That gets pricey.

After, around 2010, that bump dropped. You can see it in the high school games as the skill level dropped.

[MrMickeysMom]

268. Who was the goalie on that 1999 team?

The goalie was Scurry… who was an African American. She made the save on that penalty kick just before Brandi Chastain kicked it in the net and became famous for the sports bra exposure.

[Igel]

161. It is made available to all kids.

Lots of cities have soccer programs. YMCAs. Schools. Soccer organizations. Access to the game isn't an issue. The only thing that could be done in most places would be to provide free transportation to the games and practices.

That's different from having access to the US team. Kids have time and they can practice with their friends or neighborhood team. The US women's team are adults and need to support themselves and practice with the US team, but since they're from all over that makes a daily commute difficult.

[CTyankee]

163. yes, good point about the transportation. Many in the poorer communities lack

a car, lack good public transportation or simply are working full time and can't bring kids to practice.

[MH1]

234. Access to the game may not be an issue, but I strongly suspect access to the best coaching

is heavily skewed towards certain demographics ... and that would not include low income neighborhoods.

I've only played a little soccer in my life, but I found it to be quite a difficult sport. Maybe it's just me, but it's a heck of a lot harder to learn good footwork with a soccer ball than to hit a strong tennis forehand. Both have fairly low equipment requirements (you can find cheap but decent tennis rackets and a wall to hit the ball against) but I think it's a lot easier to get to a point of satisfaction with tennis, even without a good coach, than it would be to get to that point with soccer.

All that's to say that I think coaching would be very important to bringing kids up in the sport, probably more so than many other sports, and soccer hasn't been popular in the US long enough for good coaches to be found on every corner.

[CTyankee]

212. um, what?

don't you want to rethink this post before something bad happens, alert-wise?

[alcibiades_mystery]

24. I think with hockey it's just culture and inertia

And it will slowly change.

In most places, hockey is a very expensive sport to play, between ice time and equipment. It has tended to be restricted to heavily white areas for economic reasons. It's far cheaper for 10 kids to play basketball on a city court (which is also incredibly cheaper to maintain than a public or private ice rink) than it is for 12 kids to play ice hockey.

There are also, of course, cultural factors, where hockey has traditionally been a popular sport in geographic regions (from states and regions even down to the neighborhood level in cities) with smaller African American populations. If you look at the places where hockey is popular and commonly played even in a place like New York City, you'll see that it maps on to traditionally "white" neighborhoods. Combine that with the way culture gets replicated parent to child (hockey players and fans as parents produce other hockey players and fans in children, and similarly for other sports) and you have fairly predictable and consistent populations in different sports.

For soccer, the situation is stranger, and the image is quite jarring. There are robust soccer cultures among Latino Americans, for instance, and African Americans have entered the game in large numbers, especially in middle class and suburban areas where it is more common. The same will eventually happen in hockey.

[Myrina]

61. ^ agreed ^

n/t

[Coventina]

64. I attended an NHL game about a decade ago when there was an AA player on the opposing team.

He got heckled by the audience.
"Black men can't skate" and such.

I was so ashamed and upset, I never went back.

[City Lights]

102. Where did this happen?

That is awful.

[Coventina]

104. Phoenix, AZ

Not that a few racist jerks represent the entire NHL fan base in Phoenix, I don't think that at all, but I was so embarrassed that we had any.

[City Lights]

110. Thanks for answering.

I lived in the Phoenix area for about 5 years in the early 2000s. Never attended a Coyotes game, but had friends who had season tickets. Heckling the opposing team is not surprising, but doing it because of one's skin color is just not acceptable. I also would have been embarrassed. Sorry you had to witness that.

[Coventina]

171. No, sports heckling has a long tradition, it's true. But, yeah, not when it includes racism.

I mean, if someone blows a big play or something, there's nothing wrong with good-natured teasing. But making it about who the person IS, is not OK.

On edit: I'm jealous that you were able to escape this hell-hole!
I'm stuck here for the duration.......
Hope you made it to cooler and bluer climes....

[City Lights]

198. Haha, yeah...moved back to Chicago area.

Don't plan on staying here forever, though. We hope to move in 2-3 years to Oregon or Washington. We're sick of the Midwest.

[KamaAina]

196. It's happened more recently to Montreal's PK Subban and Philadelphia's Wayne Simmonds.

http://prohockeytalk.nbcsports.com/2011/09/22/ontario-fans-throw-bananas-at-wayne-simmonds-in-shameful-racist-display/

In what the NHL calls a “stupid and ignorant” display of racism, at least one fan threw a banana at black Philadelphia Flyers winger Wayne Simmonds during a shootout attempt tonight. Simmonds still managed to score on his attempt, although the Flyers ended up losing that preseason game to the Detroit Red Wings in front of a neutral-site crowd in London, Ontario.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/p-k-subban-targeted-by-racist-tweets-after-habs-win-1.2629759

Racist comments proliferated on social media networks Thursday after Montreal Canadiens defenceman P.K. Subban scored the winning goal in a double-overtime match against the Boston Bruins.

On Twitter, unhappy Bruins fans tweeted comments like "That stupid n----r doesn’t belong in hockey #whitesonly."

[brush]

35. Your husband is right on this

Access to soccer (football in international terms) is not widely available in inner city neighborhoods where there is a majority black population.

And frankly, most African Americans are not into soccer as its lack of scoring can turnoff the casual viewer. It takes prolonged exposure to see the beauty of the game. The sports that are more popular with more available access like basketball will have minority representation on the teams.

I should mention that Latino immigrant communities in major US cities have many soccer leagues with avid participation because that sport is the sport they grew up with and is "the" sport in Latin and South America.

Second and third generation Americans of immigrant descent even began leaning towards the major American sports like baseball and basketball that are available in school and get major media exposure. Baseball is huge in Mexico and much of the Carribean.

And btw, cricket has active participation in NYC also among the Indian and Pakistani immigrant population.

[RandySF]

47. Are there even any Latinos on the team?

[brush]

66. Yeah, that's something to think about too.

More recruiting outreach seems to be in order as avid soccer participation happens in most major American cities where there is a substantial Latino American population.

[RandySF]

71. The 2014 men's team was much more diverse.

[CTyankee]

89. why haven't the women caught up?

[RandySF]

94. I'm not sure

Maybe I just live in a "skewed" part of the country but I see tons of Latino and Asian girls and won't on he fields during the school year. That's why I have a hard time buying the explanations in the press and on DU.

[LondonReign2]

107. So you are sticking by your argument that the Woman's National team

is selected based on looks rather than skill?

[RandySF]

126. The other excuses are pretty thin.

[LondonReign2]

129. OK, RandySF says the National Woman's Team is selected based

on looks and not skill. Got ya.


Do want to tell Wambach and Lloyd?

[3catwoman3]

99. That question could be asked...

...many areas of endeavor.

[LondonReign2]

108. Maybe you should find out

[AngryAmish]

203. Yes. She is bl9nde and from Beverly Hills.

[Baitball Blogger]

96. I might have the answer for you.

It takes resources to develop a player. Some of the most talented young female players who were POC were trained by their own fathers. There may be cultural problems when they make the transition into the travel teams, not to mention the cost. And soccer is a team sport. If you don't bond with the team, you generally don't make the final cuts.

American soccer style tends to favor the physically strong and tall players, which means small sized players are at a disadvantage taking on the 5' 10" players.

Injuries in soccer can remove a lot of players from the rosters. If parents don't have good medical coverage, young players are one injury away from getting sidelined.

Another obstacle is that our Olympic soccer program recruits heavily from the colleges. We don't have programs that I know of, where players can jump straight from high school to the pro teams. That makes another obstacle to jump, unless colleges are providing full scholarships to their recruits--and you have to be ultra exceptional to make it into Division 1. Those scholarships generally disappear if you get cut from the team.

At this stage, I would say that Woman's Olympic soccer is a sport for people who have means, or political know-how.

[Freddie Stubbs]

169. Here is a picture of the US Olympic Womens Basketball team:

Does that answer your question?

[LondonReign2]

175. I await RandySF's statement that these women were selected based on their looks

and not their skill.

[Rosa Luxemburg]

176. Our local high school

Soccer and lacrosse - all white boys and girls. Football and basketball mostly African American.

[Glassunion]

216. Just wow!

Like wow!

[Travis_0004]

218. Who cares????

I don't care if they are 100% white or 100% black.

If you have proof that at the team tryouts there was bias against people of color, that I would be interested in. If they simply took the best people I have nothing wrong with that.

To ask another question. The NBA is 75% black. Should we force them to sign more white people to have it more closely represent american demographics. I say no. I am an NBA team, and I want my team to sign the best players. If the team is 100% black, that is fine. If it is 100% white, that is fine to. I don't want race to be a determining factor in who makes the team, only talent.

[craigmatic]

254. I noticed that too when they were shown getting off the plane on Maddow the other day.

[MADem]

2. World Cup winners? Happy? White? Mostly blonde?

What am I missing?

[CTyankee]

6. nothing...that's it...

[Warpy]

93. I wondered why all the white bread, too, then I realized

there is no real money in soccer in this country. If you're in a group that's been economically disadvantaged for hundreds of years because of your skin color, you're going to go where the money is. For women, it's tennis. For men, it's the usual jock sports from golf all the way through US football. It's the only way to justify spending family resources on training.

That will change and soon. I imagine the next team will have Latinas, if not black women.

I say this because I know people who never watch TV sports who watched this game and discovered they enjoyed themselves. Soccer is a fast game without all those endless huddles and timeouts. I can see it gaining in popularity as football loses.

[CTyankee]

159. yes, we sure will see change and more Latinas and black women...we sure did in

tennis. It's coming fast, too...

[FSogol]

160. Tennis? The best women athletes are playing Pro-basketball. n/t

144 jobs for players alone.

[CTyankee]

165. My husband and I agree that women's basketball is a better game than men's.

We are privileged to live in CT where our state school UCONN has such a fabulous women's basketball team. They are a beautiful team to watch!

[FSogol]

166. I'm a Terps fan and I agree. Women's basketball is fun to watch and keeps getting better. n/t

[AngryAmish]

204. This team has a latina

[LondonReign2]

253. And Christen Press

[sl8]

3. A star, a star, dancing in the night? n/t

[not you]

4. picture

green screen adventures!

[GoneOffShore]

7. Bright, shiny, happy people?

Not you?

[CTyankee]

9. no, I'm happy...very happy for them and for myself, thank you very much...

I just wonder why our team is all white.

Don't read too much into this...I thought it was an interesting thought for a progressive Democratic website, which is what I think we have here with DU...

[brewens]

67. It could be bias on the part of who selects the team. It wouldn't be the first time. Any close

calls go to the white girl. It would sure seem like at least a few minority women would have made the cut. What did past teams look like?

[geek tragedy]

77. soccer has been a sport of suburban white kids in the US, much like hockey

the men's team has become more diverse lately, but the underlying demographics of soccer in the US are the main driver

[LondonReign2]

112. Well, they aren't all white

but don't let that keep you from your point

[CTyankee]

116. not sure what you mean but I am glad to learn of your information. very pleased.

[LondonReign2]

122. See post #111

[brooklynite]

10. Knee socks.....

.....definitely knee socks

[CTyankee]

13. I wondered about that too...

briefly...

[ProdigalJunkMail]

11. some people will see race in anything

this proves the point...

sP

[CTyankee]

14. well, this is our American team...and we are a diverse country...

[ProdigalJunkMail]

18. so you're suggesting that people of color are being kept off the team

for what reason other than skill? that is really the only thing you can be implying...

sP

[CTyankee]

23. no, I am asking what others think. I know little about soccer in this country so I ask

people in our progressive DU community what they think. I am certain it isn't lack of skill. We have superb black female athletes in this country. It cannot be lack of innate skill.

So yes, I am asking for a reason other than skill...my guess is lack of opportunity and support that other sports have. But more than that, I don't know...

[ProdigalJunkMail]

29. so you're suggesting bigotry and racism is at play

in the selection of our national team? interesting... being certain that it isn't lack of skill that would be the only remaining reason. now, as for the reason for lack of skill, there are LOADS of POC soccer players in this area (afluent)... asians, indians, blacks and others.

i find it sad that you focus on race in this instance. with no suggestion from any party that anything untoward has ever happened with the national team you choose to see race rather than joy...

sP

[CTyankee]

38. I said in my OP that I was very happy to see their win...go back and read it...

but we can rejoice at their win and still examine a question of racial disparity.

My kids are older now but my granddaughters went to affluent schools where they played soccer and LaCrosse and these were largely all white suburban schools.

I don't choose to see race, btw. It is there to see...

[brush]

59. You might be missing her point

She's just curious as to why the team is all white. She's not accusing anybody of anything.

I posted this earlier as a response to her question (the absence of POC in the photo is pretty glaring IMO. If you live and work in an all white world you might not notice that).

"Access to soccer (football in international terms) is not widely available in inner city neighborhoods where there is a majority black population.

And frankly, most African Americans are not into soccer as its lack of scoring can turnoff the casual viewer. It takes prolonged exposure to see the beauty of the game. The sports that are more popular with more available access like basketball will have minority representation on the teams.

I should mention that Latino immigrant communities in major US cities have many soccer leagues with avid participation because that sport is the sport they grew up with and is "the" sport in Latin and South America.

Second and third generation Americans of immigrant descent even began leaning towards the major American sports like baseball and basketball that are available in school and get major media exposure. Baseball is huge in Mexico and much of the Carribean.

And btw, cricket has active participation in NYC also among the Indian and Pakistani immigrant population."

Now that I read my earlier post again, I'm beginning to wonder why there aren't any Latino Americans on the team as I know there are many avid participants in pick-up games, teams and leagues in Latino neighborhoods in large American cities. Perhaps more outreach "is" needed.

[DustyJoe]

83. interesting

If the team was 100% POC would this OP even exist ?

There are a lot of teams that are all one color, seems to depend on the makeup of the area the team members are derived from. School, city, state, country etc etc. In my are a lot of teams are all hispanic because the state is 60% hispanic and a lot of school boundaries contain up to 100% hispanics. Doesn't even make a ripple here.

Notwithstanding, can anyone be certain that there aren't mixed race or hispanic/latinos in that picture ? I am a white hispanic and have plenty of blonde, white female relatives that would fit easily into that picture.

[brush]

90. There should be some Latino representation considering . . .

it's "national" team that should be inclusive, and given the avid participation in soccer in Latino communities.

More outreach seems to be needed.

[LondonReign2]

114. You mean like Christen Press?

And you don't select a National team based on trying to be "inclusive".

[brush]

121. Educate us on Christen Press

Outreach should be inclusive since the game is being played in Latino communities.

There may or may not be a player that can make the National team but if there is no outreach . . .

[LondonReign2]

125. What does outreach entail?

[brush]

132. I would say beating the bushes to find quality players who have a shot at making the team . .

From diverse backgrounds so it doesn't look it's an all-white club — kinda what America looks like.

It might be hard, may involve a lot more leg-work, No one may be up to snuff but I say give it a shot, may find a female Messi or another Marta.

[LondonReign2]

136. Well first, it isn't an all-white club despite your repeated assertions

Second, this is the National Team -- the best of the best of the best. Of the best. There isn't some undiscovered talent out there that could beat out any of these women who have been the best of the best since they were little girls. They have put in unimaginable hours honing their craft. No one that hasn't had years and years of experience playing with and against the best players can possibly compete with these athletes. Christen Press, for example, obliterated the scoring records at Stanford and is an exceptional player, yet should could barely get on the field in the knock out stage because her teammates are so good.

Your idea that there is some hidden gem out there is as unrealistic as someone saying "I'm sure if we just beat the bushes there must be someone as good as LeBron out there".

[brush]

139. No need to get snippy

I asked you to educate us on Christen Press. Thanks for finally getting around to doing that.

And I said it looks like an all-white club — that's different than saying it's an actual all-white club.

And I did say in my post that if no one can be found that's up to snuff, so be it. Did you not get that?

[LondonReign2]

143. You asked why there was no Latinas, I pointed out your statement was wrong

Saying it looks like an all-white club is also wrong, and trying to cover it up be claiming you only said it "looked" all white is transparent.

[brush]

147. Why are you so defensive about it?

I did say it looked like an all-white club, and unfortunately, it does.

If they couldn't find someone from a more diverse background that could make the club, that's too bad, as diversity in our teams international image is not a bad thing.

And who is good enough or not good enough is in part subjective and in the eyes of the coaches, right?

Landon Donovan was certainly good enough to make the men's team but the coach had other his favorites and wanted to move on — a subjective judgment but he had the final say. That's how it works. Maybe it was like that with Christen Press?

[LondonReign2]

154. I am not defensive despite you also trying to make that assertion

You've simply been wrong in just about everything you've stated. You don't "find someone" to make the team, and you certainly don't consider ethnicity in making the decision on who comprises the National Team any more than you consider sexual orientation.

And what does Landon Donovan have to do with it? And what does that have to do with Christen Press?

Look, if you don't know anything about a subject sometimes it is best not to comment on it as if you do.

[brush]

156. I brought up Donovan just to say that who makes the team is the coach's opinion.

You have yours and I have mine.

Again, diversity is not a bad thing in our international image.

Now I'm done with you.

[LondonReign2]

158. And I am quite done with you

[Igel]

164. The best outreach was just done.

The team won.

BTW, at least in my neighborhood you can sometimes see Latino boys playing soccer. Girls, not so much. ("Not so much is understatement. I've been here 7 years. I think I've seen a few girls play in elementary school kid soccer pick-up games, but they didn't play for long, and that was only a couple of times.)

Mostly, since it's >50% black and Houston, you see basketball, and the Latinos either join in or get shunned for not being part of the crew. Same for music: If they like or even don't show contempt for their parents' music, they get dissed for liking that "Mexican shit", which comes as quite a shock since most of the Latinos are Salvadorans or Hondurenos. It's rap and hip-hop or nothing. (The kids even hate soul and R&B. Their cultural breadth and diversity could fit through the eye of an exceptionally small needle.)

[AngryAmish]

206. There is a latina on the team

[brush]

241. Glad to know. What's her name? nt

[AngryAmish]

246. Something Rodriguez

[CTyankee]

92. good point. we just don't know and there very well could be mixed races involved. In fact, I would

bet on it.

[mopinko]

119. and you chose to be willfully blind, apparently.

[Orsino]

259. There are an awful lot of gatekeepers in sport, as in any endeavor.

There probably isn't just one bottleneck.

[WinkyDink]

44. I don't remember our Olympic hockey teams as other than white.

[angstlessk]

15. Tell me they are NOT hiding Waldo?

Otherwise?????

[CTyankee]

17. This isn't the DU Lounge...right?

[angstlessk]

22. Check out the La Cross Team

Check out the Basketball team, Hockey, Soccer, Baseball, Football etc, etc, etc.

Time will fix it, if you complain or not!

BTW Where's Waldo?

[WinkyDink]

46. "lacrosse."

[CTyankee]

54. see how little I know about sports...getting that one wrong...

[randome]

16. Someone's missing an arm. Took me a while to see it.

Seriously, interesting point about the all-white team. It bears some thought, I think.
[hr][font color="blue"][center]I'm always right. When I'm wrong I admit it.
So then I'm right about being wrong.[/center][/font][hr]

[CTyankee]

19. Thank you. I am frankly surprised and disappointed with some of the answers here...

I was hoping for an interesting discussion. I thought it was a good one for DU...

[ProdigalJunkMail]

20. i asked why you think they're being kept from the team

is that not the discussion you were hoping for?

sP

[CTyankee]

27. See my post #18 for my answers but since I don't know much about soccer I am

looking for more information...

[brooklynite]

28. Perhaps if you had started with "Why is the US team all white" rather than your cryptic question...

...you might have gotten off on a better, er, foot...

That said, let me respond. Why is the team all white? I have no idea. However, I do know something about soccer: it is the world's most popular sport, in large part because all that's required to play it is a flat piece of land, a ball, and four objects to mark the two goals. It's the most un-elite game there is, so the reason likely isn't that black kids don't have access to it. Maybe, for any number of cultural reasons, its not that appealing, so they don't try out? I don't know (and neither do you) but I'm not going to jump to assumptions for which there's no evidence.

[CTyankee]

43. the question jumped out at me when I first saw it and I was wondering if my

fellow progressive Democrats asked the same question. The question of space is interesting. Obviously the inner city schools don't have large playing fields readily available. Perhaps if an effort were made to secure such a field for those schools and a teaching staff to train the kids in the sport it would be just as popular as other sports. After all, there is nothing intrinsic to one sport and not another when it comes to baseball, football and basketball. I think maybe this question was asked years ago about tennis and then of course we had Arthur Ashe...

You are SO right about soccer being un-elite all over the world...exactly why I asked the question I asked...

[snooper2]

25. the one in red is definitely up to something

[NCTraveler]

26. In all seriousness.

To become elite at soccer in this country takes money. A field, cleats, and a ball? Not too much. Getting into private school with a flourishing team to get you noticed by national scouts? Expensive as could be. Club soccer team? Expensive to join and to travel with. Soccer camps where national movers will be looking for talent? Expensive.

Your point is very valid and goes back to racial inequality. Soccer is not as popular as some of the other sports where one can find funding and assistance. The money just isn't there at the same level in this country.

We must make changes with respect to economic disparity. By the way, I fault none of the players above, not saying you are. The problem is ours to own. All of ours.

[snooper2]

30. Maybe we should chip in to by the OP a book

The notion that Black people don't play soccer is obviously ludicrous, but misconceptions and stereotypes incorrectly label soccer as a predominately white suburban sport.
People of African descent represent a growing percentage of the millions of America s soccer players. However, soccer s impact in the Black community lags far behind traditional American sports. The obvious question is why African-Americans view soccer so differently than Black people in other cultures and how it can change.

The book discusses: The historical, economic and cultural reasons behind Black America s apathy towards soccer; how media coverage and bias hinder soccer s progress; the legacy of players of African descent who made soccer history; how greater participation by the Black community will benefit Major League Soccer and the US National Team, both economically and competitively

[WinkyDink]

37. I believe the topic is about FEMALE soccer players.

[snooper2]

39. Well the book doesn't say it's only about MALE soccer players.

You should call up the PUBLISHER and ask why they didn't put a PICTURE of a FEMALE on the cover.

[WinkyDink]

49. Have you read the book? IS it relevant to the topic? Are you trying to expand the topic?

[snooper2]

57. Are you okay? Did you read the title of the book?

Ice Cream?

[CTyankee]

32. Perhaps knowing the trajectory of the young women on our WC team would prove

what you are saying is true. And thanks for reminding me that we as a country are just catching up to an appreciation for a sport that other countries have honed their skills in over many years.

I hope that some of our elite private schools are recruiting young women of color and helping them with scholarships and more training. It would have to come from them, given our racial de facto segregation in our city/suburb public school makeup...

[tazkcmo]

62. "...other countries have honed their skills in over many years."

Delete "years", insert "centuries" and you're spot on!

[City Lights]

31. It probably has to do with accecss to fields.

Same with hockey, and tennis.

There are basketball courts and baseball fields all over the country, but soccer fields, hockey rinks, and tennis courts are not as common, so there just aren't as many kids playing those sports.

[RandySF]

45. All you need is grass.

Pele played with a rumpled ball of paper when he was a kid.

[hack89]

189. Youth soccer at the top levels is an expensive sport

all the top players play on premier teams that cost thousands of dollars a year. The top teams play year round and travel all over the country for tournaments.

[hack89]

217. Tell me about it

My son is a high school hockey player.

[Maedhros]

135. More kids play soccer than any other sport.

It's eclipsing baseball.

[WinkyDink]

33. Re: Race and women's soccer. I think "soccer" is the operative word. Not even Beckham could increase

its popularity here, let alone among girls. Oh, sure; the championship got its media support, but that's all hype.

In the US, soccer is a white suburban male sport, secondary to football. OUR football. Soccer doesn't lead to fame and fortune here.

In the US, sports can be divided into their home turf, and by inference their predominant race. IOW: American sports are as race-based as our neighborhoods.

[brush]

78. There's a little more to it than neighborhoods

There's also access to the different sports in schools and major media exposure like the NFL, NBA and on ESPN's Sports Center. The NFL and NBA seasons run for 6 months and then there's the coverage of their drafts, pre-season games, summer league play and all that.

Just the top 10 daily highlight clips on Sports Center reflect the predominance of the major sports.

Most of the time the clips are from the major American sports but soccer and tennis slip in there too from time to time, especially during Wimbledon or the World Cup.

Kids in the suburbs watch this stuff too and want to play the sports that merit getting clips featured.

[WinkyDink]

85. AKA: "Popularity." :-)

[brush]

87. In a word — true. nt

[ileus]

34. Most are wearing white???

[romanic]

36. Soccer is a sport mostly played by white people

Nothing new there. Doesn't diminish the great victory of this great team.

[RandySF]

42. Maybe where you live.

[romanic]

48. Well soccer

like golf and hockey are sports mostly located in suburban/majority white areas. Basketball however is more predominate in inner-city/majority black areas. That's just the reality of those sports.

[tazkcmo]

50. No it's not.

In this country yes but not outside of it. Even in populations with few non-whites there is a presence. In this country it's a cultural thing. "Soccer" doesn't even get into the back seat, it's in the trunk. Hell, even hockey get's to call a window seat! That's why our men's team will never win a trophy on the world stage because our best male athletes don't care for soccer. Their loss because those dudes make tons of money!

[CTyankee]

52. I have seen some great black teams of soccer players on TV...as I said, I am not

into sports but my husband loves all sports and he has international soccer teams games on all the time. I think it is a thrilling game and wish we played more of it here.

And you are absolutely right: it doesn't diminish the great victory of these American female athletes!

[Glassunion]

53. No... No it is not.

[mopinko]

113. you must live in some bubble.

either that, or....

soccer is HUGE in chicago. white faces on the field are not that common.

[tazkcmo]

40. Yes.

I agree. The trophy should be much larger.

[RandySF]

41. I'm happy but I have noticed a stunning lack of diversity on the team over the years.

It's always been as though they were handpicked to reprenset a certain ideal of the female athlete, and that ideal is apparently white.

[WinkyDink]

58. Oh, puh-LEEZE. AS IF winning takes a backseat to an "ideal"!

[LondonReign2]

60. Oh for fuck's sake, you are saying

the National Team was selected because they are white?

Possibly the fucking stupidest thing I've heard here in a while.

[Glassunion]

51. I see several things, some amazing, some disappointing.

First the disappointing... I see a group of people who are paid about 40x less than their male counterparts for winning the same tournament.

Now for the amazing... The team captain historically has the honor of receiving an hoisting the World Cup trophy, before any one else on the team. If you had watched the match, you may (or not) have missed the part where the current captain (Carli Lloyd - #10 in the photo) came off the field towards the end of the game (around the 80 min mark IIRC), and passed the captain's band to Abby Wambach #20 (who was playing her last game) to take her last run leading the team one last time. Notice both Rampone and Wambach hoisting the trophy together. That picture alone speaks a thousand words to me.

[LondonReign2]

63. Actually that is Rampone co-lifting the trophy with Abby

[Glassunion]

69. Oops my bad. It was Carli who handed it off towards the end of the game.

You are quite correct

[LondonReign2]

70. Yes, it was a really great gesture of Lloyd to tranfer the Captain's armband

And I was really happy to see Ellis put Rampone in at the end given how much she had contributed to the team over so many World Cups...and it was nice that the game was a blow out and Ellis could freely sub in anyone she wanted without having to worry about the outcome.

[Glassunion]

72. I have to stop posting from my phone.

I'll edit my initial post.

I teared up watching that exchange. It was truly amazing.

[Darb]

81. It's not the same tournament, jussayin'.

Unfortunately, money drives sport.

[Glassunion]

97. Oh...

Total payouts
World Cup 2014 Payout - $575 Million
World Cup 2015 Payout - $15 million

Let me out that in perspective.
U.S. Men's team finished in 15th place, they received $9 million in prize money.
U.S. Women's team finished in 1st place, they received $2 million in prize money.

But let's take a look further into this... In the U.S. the salary cap for the league is set at $200K. For the men, however the salary cap is set at $3.1 million.

I do agree that money does indeed drive sports. Ratings do rule. Strange however, that the final for the men's world cup had 25% fewer viewers than the women's did last Sunday.

[The2ndWheel]

146. 15th and 1st in two different tournaments

They weren't competing against each other in the same tournament.

What were the ratings around the world for the men's and women's World Cups? The women had a 25% higher TV rating than the men in the US. How many people watched that game around the world as compared to the men's final? Had the US women's team gone out well before the final, is anyone in the US watching the last game if it's between Japan and England or whoever? I doubt it.

You're not taking the numbers and putting them in any perspective or context. You're just putting the raw numbers out there, as though they themselves tell the story.

[Glassunion]

173. I fully understand that they were not competing against each other in the same tournament.

But the numbers don't add up.

FIFA's revenue does not take a giant dump in a Women's World Cup year. And I highly doubt that they only pulled in 2.6% revenue compared to the men's competition last year.



FIFA is a rather sexist organization, even after you leave aside their comments that the women should play in tighter uniforms, or when they paraded out a bunch of extras from a Robert Palmer video during the trophy ceremony.

[malaise]

238. Well said

Michael Messner has a lot to say about sports and gender

[Adrahil]

88. It sure does. And Carli Lloyd is a worthy successor. nt

[TexasProgresive]

55. If they weren't a soccer team

they could be fast pitch softball team- White, blond with ponytails.
At least the college teams around here.

[NV Whino]

56. Some other points to consider

Soccer, as a popular sport, is rather new to America. Women's soccer is even newer.

In most other countries kids grow up playing soccer, both boys and girls. When I was growing up, soccer was something that happened in other countries along with strange sports like cricket and rugby. And, most certainly, American girls did not play soccer.

So, as to your question, among other things, I thing it's lack of opportunity to learn as a child. It's lack of cultural acceptance for the sport itself. As it becomes more accepted, team structure will change just as it has in basketball, football and baseball.

[B Calm]

65. The little bitty trophy they give to the women?

[closeupready]

68. CTYankee, if you are minority and think there is racism here, then

make your case.

There is an idea known as 'disparate impact' meaning that even in situations where overt racism is unintended, there is still racism evidenced by the results of a selection process.

Racism needs to be eliminated, I think we all agree, but what would be your remedy to this?

[CTyankee]

98. good point about disparate impact. as for my remedy, I think a more aggressive approach is necessary

Efforts by schools to seek more resources for the sport for kids in the inner cities or less affluent suburbs. Then,
more effort at recruitment for our national teams. We did this in baseball and basketball. Why not soccer?

[closeupready]

101. Soccer is not as popular in the US as in other places, but

I can see it gaining in popularity, if certain goals were set and realized. It's a worthy idea.

[CTyankee]

103. getting tv exposure has certainly helped a lot. and suburban schools have increased particiipation

and interest in the game, too. Still, it is a pretty elite sport in the U.S tho not in other countries...

[RandySF]

73. Wasn't the 2014 men's team a bit more diverse?

[Glassunion]

79. Yes it was.

[WinkyDink]

84. Might have to do with the interest of African-American (or Latina, Asian, etc.) girls in soccer.

[geek tragedy]

74. Winners? Champions? nt

[Nye Bevan]

75. More openly gay athletes on that team

than in all of MLB, the NFL and the NHL combined.

You don't get to be the best in the world by picking the team based on anything other than talent.

[ananda]

76. My first thought was tracking.

There might be a way that athletes from certain schools or sports communities are tracked through to the higher echelons of a sport.

If this were a basketball game, for example, it might be interesting to compare the pictures.

For some reason, I always got the feeling that equestrian, Cross-country, Lacrosse and rowing were sports for privileged white kids. My niece ran Cross-country in hs and now rows in college, and my nephew played Lacrosse in high school and college. My other niece rowed a bit in high school, and played Rugby for a year in college. It does look as though they chose sports that were not racially diverse. I don't know if they did this because are elitist and privileged or because their athletic prowess isn't all that great and they were looking for sports that they could participate in and actually make the team. But I will tell you that I did think about how white they were and how privileged those kids were and still are. And it has worried me that they don't get to be part of the experience of meeting and forming relationships with all kinds of people. My step-nephew didn't play sports really, but he went to the Waldorf school and a very elitist Massachusetts college. His friends have always been white too.

The question for me is: isn't this a form of segregation? It's not so much a matter of where they live as the schools and lifestyle choices they have been able to make. Down here, if you can attend a private school, or opt for white sports even in a public school; and then attend an elitist expensive college, you have essentially segregated yourself from the melting pot, so to speak.

I'd like to think my mother would be turning in her grave at all this, but she always had a blind spot for those grandkids and their parents. Also, I didn't associate with or go to school with Black kids until college and I'm not totally sure about my younger siblings, but I doubt they had all that much truck with Black kids either.

This is not an easy problem to solve. We all want our kids to have the best that society has to offer.

[City Lights]

82. I disagree about cross country being for privileged white kids.

All you need to run cross country is a pair shoes. Spikes for racing is helpful, but not necessary. Both of my kids ran in high school. Their high school was very diverse and that diversity was reflected on the team.

[ananda]

170. That's good to know.

Thanks.

[a la izquierda]

167. I ran cross-country...

and I was dirt ass poor growing up.

[ananda]

174. Sorry.

I'm glad to hear that.

To be honest, I just never paid much attention to the sports my nieces, nephews, and cousins' kids played. All I knew was that they played them, and all their teammates were pretty much white and from affluent families.

I have been concerned about their unaware assumption of privilege and elitism based on the schools they went to and the fact that their parents had money or access to money.

The idea of supremacy based on economic status has been niggling at me for quite some time. I'm not so sure that, for them, it's as simple as white supremacy because there's a large African contingent in the family also, and there is a lot of love there. It's more a matter of how they're raised apart from the poor and working classes. They are not free range kids, the way we were when I was growing up. They are not exposed or introduced to people living in poverty or with a different way of being raised. As far as i can tell, all their contemporaries are as privileged as they are. And they still have access to all the best schools and elitist jobs as well.

Even though I was raised apart from Black people for the most part, my mother made sure that we were free to roam around and meet a wide circle of people, and she introduced us to people who were poor. Also, even though we weren't dirt poor, we went to school with a lot of poor people and didn't take privilege or wealth for granted.

Sometimes I think in terms of language in this respect. It's glaringly obvious that young people have adopted their own elitist lingo, phrasing sequence, and accent that is independent of regional dialects. This tells me that they have, in a sense, formed their own group identity around status and its own rules for communication that is very elitist and affected in a way, with a lot of edge as well. This has been very difficult for me to get used to, but obviously I have little say and no influence over it while lamenting the loss of genuiness and inclusion that it entails.

[a la izquierda]

209. Thanks for your comments.

I grew up in a lower middle class suburb and couldn't afford to go to a "better" school. While there are a lot of privileged white kids running cross country, it was nothing compared to swimming.

[grossproffit]

80. winners!

[moondust]

91. Money.

Once the color barrier was broken in the big money sports, I think minority communities tended to (wisely) steer their outstanding young athletes in that direction--with much success.

[ann---]

95. What do you see?

[CTyankee]

100. see the rest of the posts...many great answers to my question...

[Bluenorthwest]

105. Sydney Leroux, African American father also Shannon Boxx.

Just by way of mention.

[CTyankee]

106. Yes! Leroux is Canadian isn't she? She played on Canada's team?

[Bluenorthwest]

109. One parent Canadian and one American, one black, one white....

Also one of those blond players is named Rodriquez.

[CTyankee]

115. FWIW, I just did a search for the Canadian women's World Cup 2015 team

[mopinko]

128. things that make you go hmmmmmm.

[Iggo]

117. I see a bunch of happy women..

[mopinko]

118. it's especially odd to me that this is the women's team.

soccer has become the acceptable sport for girls, at least in these parts.
and here in chi, soccer is a BIG DEAL. and white faces on the field are not that common.

add those 2 things together, and yeah, how the hell did they manage to end up with an all white team.

i wish someone would chime in about the selection process, and the route to the team that these young ladies took.
are they all from college teams? what colleges are they from?
are there semi-pro routes to this team?

as stated above, i tend to come down on the side of- close calls go to the white girl.

[CTyankee]

120. thanks for the info about chicago. and I'm glad you get what I was trying to say...

[LondonReign2]

127. They didn't end up with an all-white team

[taught_me_patience]

123. a serious lack of black atheletes

Probably due to systematic racism within soccer.

[nadinbrzezinski]

124. If you are seeing a whole white team

you are missing the two folks (taht I can see) in the back who are not white

Here Sidney Leroux



Christen Press



I agree they are not obviously minority, since they tend to be on the lighter end, but the team is not 100 percent white.

I expect this to change as well as more opportunities should be given to talented kids from everywhere.

[LondonReign2]

131. And Shannon Boxx

?h=458&w=683&hs

So the entire premise of the OP is wrong, not to mention the idea that the National Team is selected based on looks rather than skill, as some have argued in this thread.

[nadinbrzezinski]

134. I just posted photos of the two I could see and ID

I don't follow the team that closely, but they were indeed good.

I agree that there are some structural reasons why we are not seeing more elite athletes who are obvious minorities.... if the OP saw me on the street she would think I am not a minority. (I am), but that is a whole different kettle of fish. The team is not 100 percent white... or selected on looks. You are correct.

[taught_me_patience]

140. The entire premise is wrong because there are a couple of token black atheletes?

Utter bullshit. Clear example of white privilege at its finest. "Look... a black person... see we're not racist!"

[LondonReign2]

141. Sydney Leroux and Shannon Boxx are token black athletes?

Do you want to inform them?

Yes, the premise is absolutely wrong. The OP (all multiple other posters in the thread) claim it is an all-white team. It isn't. It is just factually wrong, pure and simple.

Further, the implication (in some cases outright assertion) that the players were selected for any reason other than their skill is a complete slap in the face of these athletes.

So yeah, claiming that the selection of the National Team is based on race rather than skill and then being outraged when it is pointed out that it is a multiracial team...yeah, that is a great example of "white privilege".

[nadinbrzezinski]

142. I think the premise is not entirely wrong

But it is not entirely right either. U.S. Athletics in general require money, private money. Some sports are far worst at this than others. But this is not a white team exclusively.

If it were, I would be screaming.

So instead of talking of this as if white people! We should be talking as to why US sports in general are not available in the inner city for example and what we can do to structurally change it. I doubt people will want to pay taxes (even if we should) to fund world class athletes.

[CTyankee]

148. Exactly my point and the whole reason I posted this. To make us think and you have

drawn what I believe to be the crux of the issue: make structural changes, esp. for inner city kids.

[LondonReign2]

149. Yes, I agree

The premise that it is an all white team is wrong, and the assertion that they players were picked for anything but their skill is absurd and a huge insult to the team members.

But, yes, absolutely, money is a huge enabler to get to the top of a sport such as soccer. For example, my daughter's team won the soccer championship in their district of 16 schools. Three of the four teams in the semi-finals were from the most affluent areas in the district. Why? Because those teams had the most girls on the team that played in Select soccer, because the families at those schools could afford it, pure and simple. So we were at a huge advantage when the entire starting team played high level Select soccer and our opponents only had one or two girls that did.

[Travis_0004]

219. 3 out of 23 on the team is black.

or 13.04% of the team is black.

Blacks make up 13.2% of the population.

They are 0.16% underrepresented. IM OUTRAGED!!!!

[taught_me_patience]

222. Oh please, we all know black athletes dominate sports that rely on speed and athleticism

The NBA is 76% black. The NFL is 69% black and most of the white guys are big and slow linemen. There has not been a single white defensive back since Jason Sehorn over 10 years ago! The top sprinters are 99% black. Soccer is obviously a sport where speed and athleticism is beneficial. I think its conservative to say that 50% of the team should be black. They are way under-represented on this team.

[Logical]

226. So your claim is the USA Soccer coach is a racist? There were more qualified black women but.....

they were ignored?

[taught_me_patience]

230. My claim is there is a institutional racism that favors white female soccer players

I don't really know why. I'd speculated that there is some economic component to it. For some reason white girls are getting chosen for elite training programs, elite high schools... etc over black girls. Did USA purposely choose white players to appeal to affluent white viewers? I wouldn't rule that out either. To deny that there is some institutional race factor involved in the ethnic makeup of the women's soccer team is white privilege plain and simple.

As a minority, the FIRST thing I noticed about the US Women's soccer team was the lack of black players.

[Logical]

231. Like I said, please find one black soccer player that should of been on the team and was not. nt

[taught_me_patience]

260. Your moronic reply is not worth my time. *poof*

[Logical]

261. In other words, you are making shit up. Nice try. nt

[LondonReign2]

255. So is it institutional racism that 76% of NBA players are black?

Or are they perhaps the most skilled, and that is why NBA have signed them?

[Logical]

224. LOL, explain "token", so you think they are not qualified? nt

[LondonReign2]

256. Exactly

The poster wants to say both that there should be more black players on the team and that the ones that are on the team are token, as if they were picked for something other than their exceptional skills.

[B2G]

138. Crystal Dunn - US Women's National Team

[CTyankee]

153. fabulous picture! Thanks!

[pnwmom]

245. But they comprise a very small fraction of the team. n/t

[olddots]

130. Soccer will never be a commercial success in America

untill we chop it up into tiny segments between ads for garbage produced by garbage aimed at morons ........ ( call down dots )

oh yeah we need more tits & beer as long as its caucasion .

[Reter]

133. I see lots of beautiful blonds

[KamaAina]

137. Outdated uniforms?

The new ones will have three stars above the crest, symbolizing our three World Cup titles.

[BronxBoy]

144. As a Black man...

I can see what you're alluding to. Is it an issue???? Maybe. But not one to get too worked up about. I'm more concerned about resources being delivered to children of color so that Google can find more employees of color and so that 95% of the district attorneys in this country aren't White men. Taking care of those situations may lead to one where we have more people of color on the women's team.

Your post did get me to thinking on how scholastic sports is viewed in middle and upper class America as opposed to poorer communities, including White ones. In middle class communities, spending resources on athletics is often viewed as possible tracks to getting a paid college education. Once I started to move up the economic ladder, I was shocked at the diversity of sports programs offered at middle and upper class school systems and how that diversity means a wider universe of scholarship opportunities for talented students. As several posters have noted on this thread, the dynamics are a lot different in poorer schools where the only options might be limited to the major sports and access to female students may be severely limited. And I'm sure that while many of these poorer students want to earn their degrees through their athletic skills, the reality is what it is: Abysmal. And no conversation about the lack of diversity of the US team would be complete without a discussion of how you change those dynamics at the levels they need to be changed. And poorer students come at this from a very different dynamic

In a perfect world, all students, no matter what their skin color would have an equal shot at achieving what these young ladies did. But as we all know, this world is far from perfect and I'd rather focus on turning out more lawyers, engineers and doctors of color than USA women's soccer team members. Because more of those will hopefully lead to the disposable income and money to prepare a child to compete at this level

Lastly, competing in any sport on a world stage such as this, you have to be incredibly dedicated, hard-working and talented to win. Let's not tarnish what these young ladies accomplished by making them the picture of something they probably have no control over. While the US team may not be as diverse as many of us would want it to be, let's not forget that soccer is probably is the most diverse sport on the planet when taken at it's whole. And they came out on top. Good for them.

[CTyankee]

145. I would never take away the accomplishment of what our women's team did...they

did a fabulous job and deserve and earned their praise.

And you have gone straight to the heart of the matter: soccer IS the most diverse sport on the planet and that begged my question, indeed.

[B2G]

150. Excellent commentary. Thank you! nt

[LondonReign2]

157. Absolutely agree with all of this BronxBoy

[HFRN]

151. the crowd in the background is out of focus?

is that it?

[HFRN]

152. I see that you have too much time on your hands

it really jumps out at me

[CTyankee]

155. welcome to DU!

Feel free to avoid spending your time on any of my posts from now on...

[HFRN]

192. my

aren't we snippy today

[Liberal_in_LA]

186. why in the hell did you post that?

[a la izquierda]

168. While not on the national team...yet...

My 6 year old niece who is biracial is an amazing soccer player.

And though not on our USWNT, Kadeisha Buchanan, who is black, won the best young player. She's Canadian and plays for WVU in college. There are a number of women of color playing collegiate soccer (including several at WVU, where I teach).

[Fearless]

172. Nope. I don't.

[Nitram]

177. Could it be that access to soccer fields is limited in highly urbanised settings?

Basketball requires a small court. Soccer a large field. Perhaps kids growing up in the suburbs have an advantage when it comes to soccer practice?

[KamaAina]

178. Mexican-American Soccer Star was Turned Away From Mostly White U.S. Team

http://www.colorlines.com/articles/icymi-mexican-american-soccer-star-was-turned-away-mostly-white-us-team

"'If I were you, I'd consider playing for Mexico,' said Jill Ellis, then the coach of the U20 U.S. women's national team.

"This wasn't quite the advice midfielder Teresa Noyola expected to hear in late 2009. After all, the Mexico-born, U.S.-raised Noyola had been named America's best prep player in 2008, and she was the youngest member at 18 years old on the U20 roster that included future U.S. stars Alex Morgan and Sydney Leroux. She would go on to win the 2011 Hermann Trophy as a senior at Stanford University, the same award -- college soccer's Heisman -- current U.S. mainstays Kelley O'Hara and Christen Press won in 2009 and 2010, respectively...

..."Still, Noyola never saw the bomb coming from Ellis, now head coach for the U.S. women's national team. 'At that time,' Noyola says, 'I was fully committed to the U.S.'

"As Noyola walked away from that conversation, she reached the same conclusion many American women with soccer skills and more than one passport had before her: If she was ever going to play in the World Cup, it wouldn't be for the United States, the standard bearer of women's soccer. Instead, she would have to achieve her dreams wearing the colors of another country."

Scary to think how much better we'd be if we had a few of these players along with the champion XI.

[oberliner]

179. There are 10 American-born players on the Mexican national team (including Teresa Noyola)

Many of them don't speak Spanish and have lived in the US for most of their lives.

Here is some more context on that advice from Jill Ellis:

That's one reason why Noyola has no regrets -- and no animosity toward Ellis. "Jill said it didn't matter which team I played for as long as I was playing at the international level," Noyola says.

Turns out it was some of the best advice she ever got.

(From that same ESPN article referenced)

http://espn.go.com/espnw/news-commentary/2015worldcup/article/12962975/dual-citizens-help-comprise-mexico-women-world-cup-roster

It seems like since the Mexican team was weaker than the US team that Jill thought she had a better chance of success if she tried for the Mexican team (since she may not make the US one).

[LondonReign2]

187. Yeah, but it is important to slant the journalism to imply

that Ellis gave her that advice because of her ethnicity and not her skill level.

This part:

"Of course Noyola wanted to play for the team she'd admired since she was a 9-year-old sitting in Stanford Stadium near her home in Palo Alto, California, watching Mia Hamm and the United States beat Brazil in the 1999 Women's World Cup semis en route to the title. But despite her credentials and a successful freshman year with Stanford, the midfielder struggled with new defensive responsibilities as a sophomore and lost her starting position, which also tarnished her status with the Yanks."

If you are not good enough to start on your college team, you certainly aren't good enough to make the National Team.

[oberliner]

190. Yes, that's why I posted my reply

It seemed like the implication was that Ellis was racist, and I do not think that was the case at all.

[WhaTHellsgoingonhere]

180. Lazy OP: looks exactly like the Chicago Red Stars roster

in fact, the only dark skinned black woman started in goal for Canada! I'm not certain whether Shannon Boxx, member of USWNT and Red Stars, isn't a light skinned black woman. Did you notice one of those pale white girls is Amy Rodriguez (she kept her family name after she got married)?

Do some homework. If black American women aren't yet playing soccer, wait 10 years.

[CTyankee]

184. I was reacting to a picture. Black American women sure are playing soccer...

that's the point...

[WhaTHellsgoingonhere]

197. I used to play soccer. But I gave it up for football. Prove...

that black women are playing soccer after college. It's not hard to do.

[KamaAina]

181. How can the U.S. maintain its top spot in the women's game?

The San Jose Mercury News' Mark Purdy weighs in.

http://www.mercurynews.com/sports/ci_28442956/purdy-vancouver-was-great-but-all-not-well

Americans can be proud that unlike some nations, we accept the value and worthiness of women's sports. That's a big reason why the USA has contended for every Women's World Cup and Olympic title since 1991. But the rest of the world is catching up. Or to put it in jingoistic terms: We're the best. We need to stay that way by getting even better.

Which brings up a touchy point: Watching the USA women in Canada, you were struck by the enthusiasm and passion and skill with which they played the game. You were also struck by the team's lack of racial diversity. There is nothing particularly horrible about having a USA team with almost entirely the same skin color. But it seems odd that previous American women's teams have been more representative of the country's diversity than this one.

This won't be the first column to point out that the American soccer system at the youth level relies on parents anteing up hundreds (and often thousands) of dollars to make sure their sons and daughters play on the better club teams with better coaches. Such a system self-eliminates many terrific young players whose parents can't afford to participate. Who knows? The best potential female player in USA history might be a minority kid banging a soccer ball around on the east side of San Jose or the south side of Chicago, who never gets the chance to play high-level club soccer and reach the national team pipeline.

In recent years, the USA men's team seems to have become more diverse. Is that because the larger money on the male side of soccer has trickled down to subsidize more grass-roots talent? However it has occurred, the USA women's operation needs to take notes.

[CTyankee]

195. thank you for this...some posters pointed out that there are a couple black women

on the women's WC team, just not easy to find in the photo. Further down in this thread I posted a photo of Yale's women soccer team. as a Yalie, you'll be pleased to see some diversity in that pic. but it too is overwhelmingly white.

[virgogal]

182. All I see is a group of athletic women celebrating a great achievement.

[CTyankee]

183. I see that too!

[Nuclear Unicorn]

185. Only 1 male so it's sexist?

[3catwoman3]

188. A view from a long-time soccer mom.

Both of our sons, who are now 25 and 22, have played soccer since they were 5. They adore it.

While the equipment to play soccer is minimal, as many have already commented, that is the least of it. Our sons played travel soccer, and they don't call it travel for nothing. Many times, the drive to a game takes longer than the game itself. I used to say that my theme song should be Willie Nelson's "On The Road Again." We live about 50 miles west of Chicago. One summer, my younger son's so-called home field was in bleeping Hebron, Indiana - close to 2 hours away, and just for a single game, not a multi-day tournament.

Athletic scholarships of all kinds are few in number. College recruiters start looking at kids in middle school, for crying out loud.

About 10 years ago, a regional soccer club with a very strong reputation, quite south of us, established a northern branch, with the promise of elite coaching, help with visibility to college recruiters and scholarship searches, etc, etc. Many of us were very excited, as were our kids, and lots signed up. It turned out to be a total con job. The club skimmed off the top players whose parents were willing to spend 3 hours a day commuting to the southern location (we were not willing to spend that much time on the road). None of their coaches ever came to our northern location. No recruiting/scholarship help was ever given.

What remained of the northern club struggled. They brought in a coach from another club for the high school ages, who brought most of his players with him, none of whom had to try out. Most were Latino, and there seemed to be a presumption that they would therefore be superior players. Many were from financially challenged families, and were basically considered permanent guest players and paid nothing. The team members were told that playing time would be earned, week by week, by commitment - effort given, and showing up at practice. Nothing could have been further from the truth. The permanent guest players often did not come to practice, but usually got to start regular games and tournament games, while the paying/showing up to practice players, who had been members of the club for several years, sat the bench. Many kids said, "screw this," and left. It was sad and infuriating all at once.

Both of our sons had times of disillusionment with their beloved sport, and the older one almost quit. They persisted, though, and ended up at the same D3 college and played together on that team for 2 years. That was quite a treat for us to be able to watch them on the same field at the same time. They played different field positions, so did not have to compete with each other for playing time, thank goodness.

[CTyankee]

191. sad story. thanks for posting it. It's easier for affluent white suburbs to have school teams

here in New England. My daughter has 3 daughters and she spends a good part of her day driving the girls to their sports activities, including soccer, and school plays rehearsals, etc. My son in law can work from home and does a lot of the driving, too.

It's a hassle, though...

[LondonReign2]

193. It's easier for affluent anycolor suburbs to have school teams

And coaches of Select soccer teams don't give a rat's bottom about your ethnicity, they want to know that 1) you can pay their fees, and 2) You can help their team win so that they can move to an even higher paying team.

[CTyankee]

194. I see that Yale is doing better with diversity (I live in New Haven and we're big on the Bulldogs)

on its women's soccer team...would like to learn more about it...

?max_width=600

but I was disappointed with my daughter's alma mater, Mount Holyoke College, in their soccer team's diversity...didn't look up the other remaining 7 sister (now 5) schools...

[pnwmom]

199. I see some beautiful young women who have been bashing their heads against balls

for hours each day and eventually may face the consequences. For their sakes, I sure hope they don't.

I am a recovered soccer mom. Our neighborhood was obsessed with soccer. All the kids seemed to play with the same private soccer association, so if you wanted to be with your friends you played soccer.

I let my oldest play till she was 10, the age when they add "heading" to the skills. Forget that.

When my son came along, he started out in soccer, too. But it was a huge commitment, even in second grade. There were long practices after school twice a week, and game day was on Saturday. It wasn't long before we realized all my son was missing out on, but especially the weekend time he'd always had with his dad. (They had been hiking together since my son was two.)

In third grade, we didn't sign him up with the club. We found a parks department program that met once a week, and played a single game. Another mother asked me why, and I said it was because my son and husband liked to go hiking on the weekends instead. And she said, horrified, "But if you pull him out of soccer now he'll fall behind the other boys and he'll never catch up!"

I admit, he did eventually become a total soccer drop-out. He switched to basketball, track, and cross-country. And it didn't seem to ruin his life.

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/does-heading-a-soccer-ball-cause-brain-damage/

What’s the scientific evidence for whether heading a soccer ball can cause brain damage?
Our findings and the findings of other researchers show that heading a soccer ball can contribute to neurodegenerative problems, such as chronic traumatic encephalopathy. Researchers who’ve followed soccer players have seen a close relationship between the amount of heading that a player does and brain abnormalities. There’ve also been studies where researchers compared soccer players to swimmers, and swimmers’ brains look perfectly normal while the soccer players’ brains had abnormalities in their white matter fiber tracts. Nerve cells transmit their messages to other nerve cells by way of their fiber tracts, or axons, and if the brain is violently shaken enough, a person can have disruption of their fiber tracts.

What are the effects of these brain abnormalities?
Excessive shaking of the brain—excessive subconcussive and concussive trauma—can lead to cognitive symptoms, including memory problems as well as behavior and mood problems such as anxiety and depression. Other symptoms include trouble with sleep, light-headedness and headaches.



SNIP

Why is it taking so long for researchers to understand the effects of concussive and subconcussive impacts on the brain?
It’s a very complex issue. You have biomechanical forces that can be measured, like the linear and rotational acceleration. But we’re dealing with a human, not an inert object in a laboratory. There are a lot of biological factors that influence whether that human being has a concussion: How many concussions that person has had before, how severe those concussions were and how close together they occurred. Other factors include: age—it’s easier to be concussed at an earlier age than at an adult age, and the recovery is slower; neck strength—if you see the hit coming and you have a strong neck, you significantly reduce your chance of a concussion; hydration status—if you’re dehydrated, you’re more likely to have a concussion; and sex—women are more easily concussed than men.

What’s your advice for soccer parents? Do you recommend an age cutoff for heading a soccer ball?
We recommend that youngsters under the age of 14 not head the ball in soccer, not play tackle football and not full-body check in ice hockey. Impacts to the head are more damaging under that age, due to a number of structural and metabolic reasons. The brains of youngsters are not as myelinated as adult brains. Myelin is the coating of the neuron fibers—kind of like coating on a telephone wire. It helps transmission of signals and it also gives neurons much greater strength, so young brains are more vulnerable.

[CTyankee]

200. I can't even imagine doing that. But I was terrible at sports, preferring the drama club

in high school. And my undergrad degree was in Fine Arts (theatre).

[pnwmom]

201. You were better off keeping your brain intact. I've seen the numbers somewhere --

the typical number of hits to the head that players take in practice -- and on purpose.

I'm surprised so many otherwise intelligent parents go along with it.

[CTyankee]

202. One granddaughter had to forsake field hockey for basketball, one went to ice hockey

(and was a bit surprised at how banged up she could get) and the 3rd went to drama where she reigns serene...

[mainstreetonce]

205. Try checking out Swim team photos

My friend's son went to a prestigious Eastern school. He told his Mom he met the whole team the first day.
It was easy. They put all the athletes in one dorm.
The white guys..........those were the swimmers.

[CTyankee]

207. college or prep school?

[mainstreetonce]

213. U Mass

..

[CTyankee]

229. Amherst?

[mainstreetonce]

233. Yes

...

[madville]

211. Looks like close to an accurate US representation, as far as black and white athletes

There are 2 or 3 women on the team that could be considered black. On a 23 person team with 3 black people that would be 13%, exactly what the US population is, 13% black.

[CTyankee]

225. I see what you mean, yes...

[taught_me_patience]

227. Black atheletes dominate sports that rely on speed

NBA=80% black
NFL = 68% black
Olympic Sprinting = 99% black

Soccer is a sport where speed and athleticism are extremely beneficial. How can you possibly argue that this is an accurate representation of black athletes?

[linuxman]

240. Then the fact that a primarily white/Hispanic team won the world cup

In spite of theirobvious handicap, should show you that this team and its members were selected based on merit.

After all, how could such a (seemingly) white team win otherwise?

[muriel_volestrangler]

250. Soccer requires 2 45 minute periods of varied jogging, running and sprinting

It's not primarily sprinting. You'd be looking more at middle distance athletes, where ethnicities are far more varied than in sprinting.

[pnwmom]

244. Except there is a higher fraction of minority people among girls this age. The younger population

is much less white than the overall population.

[phylny]

215. We've had three daughters play soccer in high school, and one played in college.

Let me tell you, the time and money expended for travel teams, training, conditioning and need for a car to travel is intense. In addition, the competition is fierce. There are elite teams starting at an early age, and the really good athletes play for Olympic development teams.

THIS year's squad may be mostly white, but through the years, there have been plenty of great players of color (Brianna Scurry, anyone?)

Even Abby Wambach said that she's not sure she'll even make the team for the Olympics, that's how tough the competition is. So no, it has nothing to do with wanting a white team - and everyone on this team isn't white. Telling a player to try to play for another team doesn't mean she's not good - it means that there are 23 women better than she is at this particular time in the U.S.

[seveneyes]

220. I see happy humans with no earned shame

No doubt.

[CTyankee]

228. indeed! They have earned respect and fame!

[Fla_Democrat]

221. KT tape?

Looks like number #3 has had some injuries. Right quad.. left bicep?

[Logical]

223. Oh FFS, really? nt

[valerief]

232. Armpits. nt

[aikoaiko]

235. Also remember that it was youth soccer of 20 - 35 years ago that produced these athletes.

Most of the team is between 25 - 40 years old. In order to reach that level of play you have to put thousands of hours of practice. Soccer in 1980 - 1995 was mostly a white, northeastern or coastal California experience.

I grew up in NJ and we didn't have any opportunities to play football until high school. People in my town thought is was too unsophisticated for their children. By the time we got to high school we were really good at soccer and often did well or won state tournaments. Kids in less well-off school districts focused on football.

[RiffRandell]

243. This sums it up for me.

Last edited Wed Jul 8, 2015, 09:42 PM - Edit history (1)

http://www.ibtimes.com/womens-world-cup-2015-anti-gay-marriage-republican-presidential-candidates-1996685

http://www.ibtimes.com/womens-world-cup-2015-anti-gay-marriage-republican-pThe U.S. women's soccer victory created an awkward situation for Republican presidential candidates who are opposed to gay marriage -- or who won't outright support it -- but who also wanted to congratulate the team on Twitter. The American team, which won the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup Sunday in Vancouver, Canada, is "the most publicly out," with a coach and three players who are out lesbians, according to OutSports, an LGBT sports site. But the Republicans didn't let a little cognitive dissonance get in the way of congratulating athletes whose right to marry they would also deny.

The event produced images reminiscent of the U.S. women's team win in 1999, when Brandi Chastain ripped off her jersey and kneeled on the field. After Sunday's victory, Abby Wambach kissed her wife Sarah Huffman at the front of the stands.
residential-candidates-1996685

[mia]

247. Shannon Boxx should be in the first row!

http://www.sbnation.com/soccer/2015/7/6/8896325/abby-wambach-usa-japan-2015-world-cup-final-christie-rampone-shannon-boxx

The United States are World Cup winners, beating Japan 5-2 in an incredible rematch of the final from four years ago. All but one of them are World Cup winners for the first time. Some of the players from this incredible squad will not play another big match for the team.

For longtime fans of the United States women's national team, three of the players on this year's Women's World Cup squad have been in the spotlight for more than a decade's worth of World Cups. The 2015 edition of the competition marked the fifth for Christie Rampone, and the fourth for both Abby Wambach and Shannon Boxx.

Wambach, in particular, was seriously emotional before this World Cup. It would be the tournament that defined her legacy, and she couldn't stomach finishing her career without lifting the biggest prize in her sport. She's finally done it, while Boxx has her first as well, and Rampone has her second....

Boxx wasn't expected to appear at this World Cup. She was a key figure in Germany, but was not an every-game starter at the Olympics and was left out of the team afterwards. But with the team's failure to find a replacement, Boxx was drafted back into the squad and made her 191st appearance in a national team shirt during the group stage. She was rarely considered a star player during her career, because defensive midfielders rarely are, but the USWNT's inability to find a replacement shows just how valuable she's always been. There are not a bunch of future Shannon Boxxes lying around...."

The multiracial Boxx, whose biological father was black, was raised by her white single mother in Southern California. In a 2008 interview, she remembered that she had little contact with her African American heritage until she went to Notre Dame:[3]

“ For me, I really learned about my other half. I took African American studies. I majored in it. I think that was one of the best things I could have ever done. My mom couldn't teach me those things. So I went and taught myself and learned those things when I was at Notre Dame.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shannon_Boxx

[CTyankee]

248. what a great and inspiring story!

[mia]

249. In honor of Shannon

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10026951461

[LanternWaste]

251. Happy people celebrating a hard won victory.

Happy people celebrating a hard won victory.

Though no doubt, if we try hard enough, we can see (or fail to see) whatever validates our own biases... e.g., the great state of Montana lacking any representation at all in that picture.

[CTyankee]

257. true that. what an outrage...

[2naSalit]

252. What I see is...

all the white ladies in the front row and all the ladies with less-than-pearly-white skin covered up (by being in the back rows) so that they are hardly visible even though they are every bit victors as the white-skinned ladies in the front row. Not so subtle as it may seem.

[Snobblevitch]

258. There seems to be a lot of implied racism in this thread.

Is there anything to back up these implied accusations?

[CTyankee]

263. none from me. I'm asking about the picture.

[Snobblevitch]

265. Keep telling yourself that

[CTyankee]

266. well, I can do nothing about your attitude, only my own.

I think the first picture could have presented the team more inclusively since there are obviously women of color on the team. I would have preferred seeing it more like the last pic just posted here. Very strong and very good, IMO...a great statement about a great team that has just done a wonderful WC job...

[Rex]

262. I see a lot of happy, victorious women. Why what do you see?

[CTyankee]

264. I like it. It has a nice ring of honesty, determination and strength...