From the U.S. women’s historic win during the soccer World Cup to the Bay Area’s first WNBA team, women’s sports have been on a rise in the past two decades.
According to sophomore Zoe Nesvecil, the first major stepping stone toward the popularization of women’s sports in the U.S was the 1999 victory in the Soccer World Cup. Their win proved something to the world regarding the stigma against female athletes, setting the stage for a fresh interest in women’s sports.
“Once they won that World Cup, they had a title, and they kept doing it every World Cup. It was like, ‘Oh, when you invest in these teams, they get better,’ and that helped the U.S. become so big in women’s soccer,” Nesvecil said. “That’s how the U.S. got so popular for women’s sports, because they were investing in teams, and those teams were getting better.”
With recent teams popping up both locally and across the nation, science teacher Sara Carvalho believes that some fans are drawn to the novelty of professional women’s sports. Before teams such as Bay FC and the Golden State Valkyries existed, there were no major local women’s teams to support.
“You had nobody to watch, and you just had to wait for the World Cup to watch women’s soccer,” Carvalho said. “It’s still so new that people still appreciate it, and it’s not taken for granted. It’s just very cool that we even have this.”
Science teacher and JV girls basketball coach Saheded Mohammed credited social media with helping in the recent rise of women’s sports. Social media has given women’s teams a more equal playing field with men’s sports and provided a platform to grow in popularity, especially as big stars like Indiana Fever player Caitlin Clark drew media attention.
“There were a lot of great players before her, but they didn’t have a platform to represent themselves or to demonstrate their skills ‘cause they don’t have TV deals, so it wasn’t like highlights all the time on ESPN or something,” Mohammed said. “They just weren’t reaching big audiences.”
Some, like Carvalho, feel putting female athletes on the big stage has helped to inspire many. She takes her nine-year-old daughter to Bay FC games and feels it helps her show her daughter what is possible for women.
“Before, it was like, ‘Cool, you go play in high school, you play in college, and then you’re done,’ but now it’s like, ‘Oh, if you play soccer, you could play professionally in the NWSL, and you don’t have to go play for a national team. You could play at home,’” Carvalho said. “But even if you don’t want to play a professional sport, seeing successful women, getting paid equal amounts as men, is huge. It shows you what you can do, if you want to.”
The rise of women’s soccer has not only shown new possibilities but also encourages soccer players like junior Jessilyn Klinger to work hard.
“It inspired me to put in the hard work, and it showed me the different techniques of how they play because when I watch men’s soccer, I feel like their footwork and everything is so different compared to women’s,” Klinger said.
As women’s sports continue to grow, some are concerned that the novelty of new teams and leagues may wear off, leaving expectant fans and adding new pressure. Nesvecil believes that more expectations will come for teams to perform better, and purely being a women’s sports team may not be enough to keep fans happy. Already, some teams are turning to support from well-known celebrities to boost their viewership.
“I think the pure motivation from the fans will dissipate as fans expect to see more results, and the more results they don’t put out, the less popular they are going to be,” Nesvecil said. “That’s why Kansas City is at such a high right now, because they are getting support from Patrick Mahomes and they are seeing the results of having a lot of wins and good players.”
Yet as it stands, the popularity of women’s sports is not only benefiting players but also the fans. Professional women’s sports provide a unique platform for representation and connection over a shared interest.
“The women who watch women in sports, they really enjoy it, and they are really passionate about it because it’s so nice to see people like you doing something that you love,” Klinger said.