Women's Soccer: The Passionate Game

John Walker is a professor of Spanish studies at Queen’s University.

Women’s soccer in North America has improved greatly in the last
decade. The success of the U.S. national team and our own Canadian
women’s team in the World Cup, Olympic Games, and under-19
championship have helped to swell the popularity of the game at the
grassroots level, which has in turn boosted media coverage of the game.

This beautifully produced coffee-table book is both entertaining and
informative. It begins with a brief foreword by Charmaine Hooper,
captain of the Canadian national team. Chapter 1 highlights two
important dates in the history of the women’s game: the 1991
tournament in China when the Women’s World Cup was born, and the
momentous 1999 victory of the United States at the Rose Bowl. Chapter 2
gives a detailed history of the game in China, Rome, Greece, Scotland,
and England, and covers the important Title IX of the U.S. Educational
Amendments that helped to bring about equality of opportunity for women
in sport. Chapter 3 details the early days of Olympic soccer for women,
from Atlanta in 1996 to the Sydney games of 2000. Chapter 4 covers the
professionalization of the women’s game, with the formation of the
WUSA league in the United States. (Unfortunately, economic realities
forced the league’s collapse after this book was published.) Chapter 5
gives a brief summary of the current situation, the various national
teams, and prospects for the future.

The author has been well served by the excellent photography of the
Whitesells. Women’s Soccer is a credit to the game.