Trinity Soccer and the American National Teams

Beginning in the late 1970’s, soccer in North America began to grow in popularity due to the success of the United States Men’s (USMNT) and particularly the Women’s National Soccer Teams. This upward trend resulted in the men’s and women’s soccer programs at Trinity University to increase success, gain popularity, and emulate the style of play of their respective national teams. In particular, the success of the United States Women’s National Team (USWNT) in the 1991 and 1999 World Cup, had a large impact not just on the results of the women’s soccer team at Trinity, but rather all of women’s athletic programs on Trinity’s campus.

As you delve deeper into the historical research process, it is interesting to see the common cliché “history repeats itself” emulated and depicted. When reading articles about the USWNT, it is hard to not detect a particularly demeaning tone to many of the articles, novels and journals. Particularly when the author seems to be male, there is an aspect of the literature that is taking value away from the accomplishments of the female athletes of the time. Women having an equal stage in athletics is still an unsolved issue in modern day, and men in particular on different outlets, let it be, TV, social media, or in more formal writing seem to take away from the accomplishments of women, or rather suggest the athletic arena isn’t for women. Decades ago, this was an even more prevalent issue and that, not surprisingly sticks out when the topic of sports arises.