When I was offered this blog three seasons ago, I wasn't sure I wanted it. Not because I wasn't passionate about women's football (I am. I so very, very am), but because I didn't want to be the chick who writes about chicks' football. And because, pigeonholing aside, I wasn't sure a chick writing about chick's football was going to do much for promoting or earning respect for the women's game.
Heart won out over head and I accepted the offer, in truth because I could no more stay away from football in general and women's football in particular than I could stop, well, just about anything else. Now, three seasons down the track, on the night of the awards ceremony, and the day after the end of the first training camp for what will make up the Westfield Matildas squad that will head to the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup, I'm reminded that I made the right choice. There's nowhere I'd rather be and nothing I'd rather be writing about.
I've been conscious that there's a certain amount of novelty surrounding a female writing about football—that's apparent from the comments I've received during this time, some of which have concentrated less on what I've written and more about what I do or don't look like. How anyone can really gauge my (lack of) looks from a thumbnail, I'm not quite sure.
But I have chuckled at the very occasional 'your hot' comments, which can't be taken seriously both because of their wide-of-the-mark ridiculousness, but also because of their absence of grammar/spelling/punctuation: the 'your' should be 'you're'. I've also loved the variously proffered explanations of the offside rule (Bend it Like Beckham salt and pepper shakers and shoe-shopping bargain explanations are much more interesting than textbook explanations).
For the most part, though, and even more so over time, I've noticed that the novelty has worn off and the comments started to be more football related. I'm noticing the same with the Westfield W-League. Three seasons in, I hear fewer, surprised, 'these girls can actually play' remarks, and more analysis of the playing style and prowess. And I no longer have to explain what the Westfield W-League is or where the comp is at—the league is being followed, the players have avid fans, and the tempo and skilful plays are increasing daily.
Sydney FC and Westfield Matilda striker Kyah Simon swept the pool at the season's awards ceremony, claiming the Julie Dolan Medal and the Young Player of the Year and Hummel Golden Boot awards—a kind of hat trick that reflects a season where she really hit her straps, scoring 11 goals in 12 matches. This strap hitting is at least in part due to the consistent training and match practice she's had as part of the comp that was developed with the explicit purpose of developing Australian female footballing talent. The Westfield W-League's doing its job, with national coach Tom Sermanni himself noting the steady improvements he's seen in the players and matches from start to finish, season to season.
The flow-on effect has been a welcome headache in selecting players who will prospectively make up the Westfield Matildas squad that heads to Germany for this year's Women's World Cup (or as one friend has termed it, 'the World Cup with an extra dubya'). Not bad for a team that is, after the retirement of some of its most experienced players, technically going through a rebuilding phase.
Even two years ago, any one of us could have named the Matildas Starting XI. Now we can name at least double the number of players who might be considered for those spots—in effect, two Starting XIs—and feel an instant headache come one when considering the possible combinations. If we're getting those, it's fair to say that Matildas' group-stage opposition Brazil, Norway, and Equatorial Guinea are getting the same as they try to size up and prepare for their Matildas match ups.
That's not to deny that the short season and the apparently decreasing number of teams aren't giving me pause—if Adelaide goes under and we're reduced to a six-team comp with no more games and no extra broadcast games for season four, I will seriously go spare (and please spare me the comments about financial viability and lack of depth in the squad-both need to be addressed, not just given up on).
But those issues aside, we're on the road to Germany. This week's first Westfield Matildas camp made it, for me at least, both real and a reminder that this is exactly where I want to be. The usual off-season emptiness is being tempered by World Cup anticipation. Who will be selected in the and-then-there-were-21 (three goalkeepers and 18 outfield players) handpicked squad? How will each match play out? Will we make it out of the group? And how many people will jump on the these-girls-can-play bandwagon (which I am completely ok with, by the way)?
The World Cup anticipation is also being buoyed by the announcement that Canada, the northern hemisphere equivalent of Australia in terms of temperament, love of sport, and of being loved by other nations, will host the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup. I mean, who doesn't love Canadians, with their 'about's pronounced as too-cute 'aboot's? And what's not to look forward to when Germany's around the corner and Canada's on the horizon?
Fiona Crawford is also the online/content editor for Football Federation Australia's Girls FC
