Many months ago, as the US Women's National Team was battling for World Cup life against Italy, I was posed a question on Twitter (thanks @Ingridium): Can Twitter save Women's Soccer?
Before I answer, let me say sorry for taking 6 months but I think the timing is certainly right to do so. The answer I think is worth the wait. Twitter and other social media, certainly Facebook, not only can save women's soccer but in fact they must save women's soccer.
If social media can cause a revolution of freedom for entire countries, even entire regions, then a sport which is being played by conservatively 7 million US girls who will likely use social media and will grow up to be women can have a huge impact on the survival of the sport they are playing.
The key is that it's not actually Twitter or Facebook that will save the sport, it's the tweeps, bloggers and status updates that will drive the women's soccer revolution. The fact of the matter is that many don't realize that the fate of the sport is in their hands.
Case in point: I put out an announcement to the members of my local club about the return of professional women's soccer to the Bay Area with the WPSL's Bay Area Breeze. I was excited to be able to tell our community about this development after the disappointment of FC Gold Pride's cease of operations. The message announced, as the Breeze called it, the return of pro women's soccer. I was bewildered by one response from a member:
Your subject really got my hopes up. While it is nice to have another competetive team in the area, it is not equivalent to FC Gold Pride, and it diminishes the WPS to equate it. Also, you say returns to the bay area, but the schedule clearly shows that they are playing other bay area teams that have been around, some, like the Nighthawks, for a long time. I think these semi-pro teams are great to have around and it is great to share the schedule and encourage {the club's} kids and parents to attend, but it is not pro soccer.
I know: Terry Foley and company are starting small. The environment at a Bay Area Breeze game is not the same as WPS was here and is not yet drawing any where near the crowds that FC Gold Pride was. I thought quite a while about how or if to respond. Feeling it was my duty to do so, I wrote:
It was not the intention to disappoint. Please allow me to give you some background information. I trust that you will see that there is indeed a reason to have hope. My daughter and I were perhaps the biggest FC Gold Pride fans and supporters. We were season ticket holders for both seasons and were very disappointed when FC Gold Pride and WPS vanished from the west coast.
I don't work for the Bay Area Breeze and I understand how the tag line in their flyer might mislead a bit since WPSL is not WPS. Yes, the Nighthawks and others have been around in WPSL for a while but there is much more to the story. There is an investment group that made a late pitch to save FC Gold Pride but they could not reach a deal. With WPS's own future in question, they are working to build up not just a bay area team, but a west coast presence in Pro Women's Soccer. This strategy was very successful in pro sports historically. It was the case in Major League Baseball when the NY Giants and Brooklyn Dodgers moved to San Francisco and Los Angeles respectively. The norcal and socal rivalry meant for good business as far as building a fan base. After FC Gold Pride folded, this investment group, consisting of former WPS people like Terry Foley (Philadelphia Independence) and Abner Rogers (LA Sol) entered 2 teams in WPSL with the intent of starting on a smaller scale business model in order to build the teams up for eventual rentry into WPS {or to establish a pro presense within the WPSL as I would later discover}. Those teams, the Bay Area Breezeand Orange County Waves, consist of former FC Gold Pride and WPS players like Kim Yokers, Tiffeny Millbret, Natalie Spilger and Brittany Klein. Perhaps you recall the WPS Chicago Red Stars. They too are entered in WPSL in hopes of building up financially. The Western New York Flash, based in Rochester New York, where many former FCGP players now play, was also a WPSL team last year. Those WNY Flash players include Marta, Becky Edwards, Christine Sinclair, Candace Wilson and Ali Riley to name a few.
If you should like to read up a bit more on Terry Foley's plans, here is a great article and another.
Again, my apologies if it mislead you as that was not my intent. I am just a passionate fan that believes pro women athlete's are important role models for young women like my daughter. That is one of the chief reasons I got involved in the club board in the first place: so that I can help Women's Soccer succeed in our community. I hope that after reading more info about the Bay Area Breeze that you might also find like me that although they are no FC Gold Pride, there is cause for you to indeed have your hopes up.
Judging by the smile on my daughter's face after Breeze midfielder Kim Yokers blasted a 30 yard rocket into the back of the net on par with any WPS quality goal, I'd say the Bay Area Breeze matters quite a bit to this young fan. It took nearly a half hour for me to peel her away after the match as she sought out every player so that they could sign her new Bay Area Breeze t-shirt. No, they aren't FC Gold Pride and it's not WPS, but if we don't start the pro women's soccer revolution as players, parents and coaches, who will? It's up to us to at least try to change the perception of fans such as this one and to turn their disappointment into excitement.
It's up to all of us to be the marketing engine behind women's soccer: to get every soccer family with a daughter in the game to go see their local WPS or WPSL team. Now tweeps, it's in your hands.
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