Farrer & Co Women in Sport - Report - Page 29
The million-dollar question is – how can
the successes of American women’s
club soccer be replicated elsewhere?
The Portland Thorns, like the city’s
basketball team, provides the 600,000
residents with the area’s major league
sporting focus. Portland’s focus on
these teams means that they are
well-supported.
US women’s clubs have generally
capitalised on sponsorship
opportunities themselves, but these
tend to be focused on marketing to the
community in which the team is based.
It may be a sense of community that
attracts the players to the clubs. Given
salaries for players are capped by the
NWSL at a relatively modest level, there
is little scope for clubs to enter bidding
wars for players. However, on a global
scale, the NWSL is arguably the most
developed and successful women’s
soccer league. Players seem to be
attracted by the League as a whole
rather than by a specific club.
USA players lifting trophy at 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup France Final
match between USA and The Netherlands at Stade de Lyon, July 2019.
19,000
supporters regularly attend
league matches played at
Portland Thorns
At the other end of the player spectrum,
grassroots engagement must be an
area of focus for clubs and for the
league in order to secure its future.
USSF is tackling this by targeting
coaches. It recently launched eight new
grassroots coaching courses, designed
to familiarise coaches with USSF’s
approach. No doubt the intention is
to unify the coaching experience at
grassroots level in line with that
promoted by USSF.
Underlying all of the efforts to
improve grassroots participation is
the grassroots model of “pay to play”,
meaning that participants from higher
socio-economic backgrounds have
better access to soccer opportunities
than their peers from lower socioeconomic backgrounds. USA team star
and Orlando Pride player Alex Morgan
has been critical of this model, and
claims it is detrimental to the growth
of soccer in the US. The Portland Thorns
has an academy to foster talent for its
NWSL team, but participation fees start
at $2,850 for the 2019-2020 season,
effectively locking out the poorer
players. Good outreach efforts do exist
though. Florida’s Orlando Pride team is
one of many that provides free soccer
sessions in the community via
a charitable foundation.
As in other jurisdictions, equality
and diversity in governance has been
the subject of scrutiny. At the top level,
just under 30% of the USSF’s Board of
Directors are women. The NWSL has an
Executive Committee on which players
from the league’s teams sit, all of whom
are female. At club level, the directors
tend to be male: 30% of the Portland
Thorns’ (combined with the Portland
Timbers) executive staff are women,
both of the directors of Orlando Pride
(combined with Orlando City) are male,
as are both of the directors of North
Carolina Courage (combined with
North Carolina FC).
Sally Mantell
Associate,
Farrer & Co
Farrer & Co
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