Canada’s mainstream sports media focus on the Women's World Cup in Germany, at least in Canada, has been impressive. Perhaps it’s because of the gulf between the success of the men's and women's team; or the lack of other important tournaments in the summer; or that Canada is hosting this tournament in four years' time, but outlets beyond those with a ratings stake like the CBC and Rogers Sportsnet have posted interviews, op-eds, and even newspaper editorials on the FIFA tournament to kick off in Berlin tomorrow.
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While much of the reporting is jingoistic in tone and unrealistic in expectation, there is an absence of the familiar cultural stereotypes when it comes to soccer in Canada, like how interest in the game is driven by recent immigrants, and the old wrangling over whether soccer will ever get a foothold in Canada's sporting mainstream. Why? Mostly because questions about sexism, about the future of women's professional sports in general, and the spectacular growth of women's soccer in Canada, take up most of the oxygen.
Still, women's soccer holds a unique place in the sporting landscape in this country, which is part of why women's football is very much Canada's sport. Major Canadian sports media desks love a winner, and Canada, while far from tournament “favourites,” are certainly a shout for the finals. Canada also embraces amateur and collegiate athletics, a model that has served the women well in this country in the past several years, who make up 43% of registered players in this country, double from eight years ago. It’s a good news story, and many look to the sports pages to counterbalance the doom-and-gloom of the front section.
Even with the volume of reporting, there is a sense some of the underlying issues between players and the Canadian Soccer Association have been papered over for brevity or convenience. The fight by the CSA to secure the Italian head coach Carolina Morace’s commitment to the national team has been painted as a “triumph”, rather than an exercise in major damage control. There is also a pernicious belief among some pundits that the women are somehow more comfortable with the current state of the CSA than the men, simply because they have achieved more success in international football. Women have the same overall goals for player development reform in this country as men. Success for the CWNT in Germany does not represent a victory for the status quo.
But that’s the boring stuff. If we’re to take anything away from largely positive domestic media coverage of the FIFA Women’s World Cup, it’s that mainstream sports media will take notice of football when a Canadian team has a chance to make history. It’s not an optimal state-of-affairs, to be sure, but it reminds us that media will do their job when Canadian soccer does its job. I’ve blamed Canada’s sports media for their failure to cover soccer in the past, but no kid has ever wanted to be Sidney Crosby because they read a Stephen Brunt column; they wanted to be him because they watched him play. It’s up to us, the soccer people, to help usher things along with soccer reform, to help make the changes required to secure soccer’s bright future in Canada, before we can expect any help from our friends in the MSM.