Putting Respect in Perspective - Aaron Crouse

The 1999 FIFA Women’s World Cup held in the United States marked the beginning of a new era for women’s soccer.  The tournament was expanded to 16 teams, games were held in massive NFL stadiums, and media coverage was significantly increased.  As illustrated through the video in class, many critics believed that the U.S Women’s Soccer team would end up embarrassing themselves by playing in front of empty stadiums as crowds would not be interested in a women’s sport.  These critics ended up being dead wrong.  The American women would end up taking home gold by defeating China in penalty kicks in front of a sellout crowd of 90,125 at the Rose Bowl, marking a newfound victory for not just women’s soccer, but women’s sports overall in the United States (FIFA, 1999, paragraph 3). In an age where is it extremely difficult to meet, yet alone form a relationship with a professional athlete, the 1999 USA Women’s National Soccer team stands out as a team that really did right by their fans in my opinion, leading to the ultimate success of the FIFA World Cup.

One of the major differences that made this team stand out from others was their willingness to engage in grassroots marketing with their fans.  I doubt that any NFL, MLB, or NBA teams would be willing to hold open session camps (for free) and give each youth athlete the attention and time that these U.S. women’s players did.  For anyone who has ever attempted to obtain something as simple as an autograph or handshake at an NFL training camp or before an MLB game, I think you can agree when I say that there is a disconnect (for the most part) between today’s athletes and their fans.  I was very impressed with the way this team presented itself to the public.  Becoming so personal with the youth athletes that came out to see them at the camps not only helped with ticket sales, but also helped in encouraging participation in youth soccer for girls.  The current success of the U.S National Women’s Soccer program along with the popularity of girl’s soccer in middle and high school can be greatly attributed to this team.  Based upon this video and coverage from the Olympics, I would say (that in general) female athletes are much more likely to be appreciative and warm up to their fans than males.  While I cannot prove that this is completely based upon gender differences (or possibly differences in salary), I was very impressed with the way in which the U.S. women genuinely appreciated the individuals who came out to support them.  While fans often defer to male sports for role models and idols, I personally wish more of our male athletes approached interviews and their supporters in the way females do.  In having to “earn” their fans with more difficulty, female athletes have a better understanding the time and effort that goes in to supporting a team and a player.  Not only are many of these women great athletes, but we are also able to find out who they are as people.  You can only learn so much about a person from what you see on television, read on twitter, or get out of a 30-second interview.  Many current male athletes should take a lesson from the 1999 USA Women’s National soccer team and really get out to meet their fans.  These individuals spend their time and money to come out and watch you play a game, the least you can do is sign an autograph or give a kid a high-five.  It may be insignificant to the athlete, but it is something that the fan or child will remember for the rest of their life.  When in doubt, defer to the actions of the 1999 women because they did it right in my opinion.