Megan Hueter, co-founder of Women Talk Sports, brought the soccer bloggers from her network together to talk about the state of women’s soccer. I happen to be one of those lucky few, so Megan invited me to participate. Additional people on the call were:
- - Megan Hueter, co-founder of WomenTalkSports.
- Dr. Jennifer Doyle, author of From a Left Wing, and associate professor at the UC Riverside
- Jenna Pel, author of All White Kit
- Jane Schonberger, WomenTalkSports cofounder/editorial lead, editor of PrettyTough.com
We had a good chat about an entire range of topics, lasting just about an hour. Megan does have a keen passion and interest for women’s sports and media coverage, so the conversation was largely weighted in that direction. The full recording of the call can be played here:
You can download it here:
http://www.archive.org/details/StateOfWomensSoccer
While the call is almost an hour long, Megan broke down the timeline by topic, so feel free to skip to whichever topic interests you the most. (She also says, “I apologize in advance for being able to hear me type notes while people are talking. That will not happen again on future calls.) Check out Megan’s original post at Women Talk Sports. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts.
The Timeline
0:00 – 2:30 – Introductions and backgrounds
2:30 – 5:45 – Background on the Women’s Professional Soccer, league attendance estimates, sponsors/partners, 2010 kick-off
5:50 – 10:15 – What to look for in 2010, top players, match-ups. Mentions: Lauren Cheney, Marta, Chicago Red Stars
10:20 – 17:35 – Role of International players in WPS (differentiator from other sports): England, Sweden, Japan, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Spain. 19 countries represented in WPS. Also touched on role of international media, FIFA’s role, impact of Title IX on women’s soccer in the United States.
17:45 – 32:20 – Role of the media in the U.S. in covering women’s professional soccer. Mentioned Fox Soccer Channel, regional broadcast partnerships, webcasts, sometimes lag in mainstream media, and how bloggers are helping to fill the gap. Newspapers, sports media and game recaps. Outlets: Equalizer.com, Goal.com, Bleacher Report, The Global Game.
32:20 – 33:50 International coverage of women’s soccer (World Cup).
33:50 – 35:25 – Elizabeth Lambert/ESPN, headlines, how it was handled.
35:30 – 43:20 – Youth soccer players, their engagement in the league and with players through social media and by attending games. Also touching on the success of the WPS new Defend Your Turf marketing campaign.
43:23 – 53:45 – Engaging independent soccer leagues among Hispanic and Latin neighborhood leagues, harnessing their talent. Mainstream Spanish language media tapping into soccer community in independent leagues in the southwest U.S.
55:00 – 56:25 – Future plans, closing remarks
Hi, my name is Amanda Vandervort. This is my personal blog where I discuss digital and social media strategies in soccer. Opinions are my own.
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
Hi Amanda – since you’re living the dream of business/tech/soccer, I subscribed to your blog, and I must admit – at 20, I would’ve been put to sleep; but at 40, a father coaching 3 daughters in soccer – very engaging.
1. I CANNOT listen to ESPN (or any mainstream media) being thrown under the bus enough, generally, but for the Elizabeth Lambert topic as a great short list example as any – the panel was so on point/proportionate in their comments. Well done. Whatever the inappropriateness of the player’s actions – dime-a-dozen. The greater story WAS the reporting of the “non-story.” I had 3 Lambert-esque incidents in my spring 2009 Girls U12 in an 8-nil loss. Shame on ESPN for sensationalizing a pony-tail.
With respect to one of the topics touched upon regarding player exposure and access to WPS – you should speak to one of my clients, CollegeSoccerAdvantage.com (Chris Hamblin and Bobby Thompson) – perhaps a podcast? Chris has been working with Tony DiCicco and Lisa Cole as a special assistant to the Breakers among his many coaching roles. His recent shift in business model for CSA is very interesting – it’s hardly the run-of-the-mill highlight upload to YouTube.
As always – great job…and keep living that dream – biz/tech/soccer! :)
JC
Hey John, lol, yeah I think I woulda hit the snoozer on my own blog at 20 too, lol. Thanks for the notes here – I know Chris from my days with the Region 1 ODP program, super guy – glad to hear he’s working with CSA, I’ll connect with him to learn more, but in the meantime, can you share some details in the shift in business model? What was is previously and what has it become? Thanks! Amanda
I met Chris at NEFC – when my daughter joined the club, he gladly handing the reigns of the non-existent NEFC club website to me – now http://www.NEFC.us – but he couldn’t have been a more welcoming ambassador – Indeed, a SUPER coach, credentials to match – even better guy.
CSA began as an adjunct to his coaching at NEFC, given Chris’ personable nature, his college-centric background as an All-American player at BC and later his work as the Asst. Head Coach to the Women’s BC Eagles – and rounding it out, his particular skills with video. In short, some of his videos are quite impressive simply because the perspective in production clearly reflects his technical and tactical knowledge – so they are recruitment, rather than “highlight” videos.
The transition I refer to in the model, is that Chris “webified” the business by teaming up with former BC teammate, Bobby Thompson. Bobby’s vision and contribution has been a great complement – working for both of them has been awesome (I can’t get enough of hanging out with great soccer minds of course!) – Bobby has authored online education modules supporting the concepts of Chris’ prior college recruiting consultantcy practice.
Between the two of them – from the ability to participate in online courses, webinars, one-on-one consultations and forums (not unlike a SoccerInteractive, but much more narrow in scope) – they are obviously intent on making good on the brand.
I’m opening the site to a beta group that Chris has put together (This ridiculously small – less than six-degrees of separation network world of soccer I’ve been introduced to since meeting him/meeting Tom Goodman at MYSA taking my USSF D – you all know each other! Thank God you’re all NICE! Softball bores me to death! LOL)
JC