EDMONTON – Edmonton’s Mini World Cup is one of Alberta’s largest adult sports tournaments, but of the 1,500 players, the majority are men.
With 46 men’s teams and just 12 women’s teams, the tournament is a prime example of the gender gap that exists in Canadian sport.
Michelle Johnson has been playing soccer for years, and this is her third time participating in the Mini World Cup. She said she’s disappointed by the lack of females taking part.
“I think this is the first year that I realized there are a lot of people I know that aren’t playing,” she said. “It’s still competitive, we just all wish there were more women in it and their countries were available to play.”
The organizers, Edmonton and District Soccer Association, believe the tournament is unique and point to more equal numbers of men’s and women’s teams during the regular season.
Executive director Mike Thome explained: “a lot of our men’s teams are new Canadians. The women who are new Canadians maybe come from parts of the world where the game isn’t socially acceptable yet, for them to play.”
New this year is a women’s team from Lebanon and EDSA has changed the rules slightly to allow everyone to play, including those that have unique religious requirements.
Thome also pointed out EDSA’s board now has multiple women in leadership roles, something he hopes encourages more women to play.
According to a 2013 research paper by Heritage Canada, 35 per cent of Canadian men over the age of 15 play sports, compared to just 16 per cent of women.
The gender gap was shrinking for a number of years, before growing again in 2010. The biggest drop offs in female participation are for those between the ages of 15 and 24.
Stuart Brown started out coaching men, but 39 years ago he switched over to the women’s side. He’s never looked back. In that time, he’s seen huge changes in the number of female soccer players.
“It’s significantly grown since then simply because of more popularity and the exposure it’s been getting at the national and international levels,” he said.
Brown has seen a number of reasons why women stop playing sports.
“Once the ladies get up over 20, they get married and focus on their family. It takes them away from the sport,” Brown said.
He added it’s challenging for his players to find a work-life balance that includes sports.
“The women that I’ve coached over the years they’ve got to juggle two careers. They’ve got to juggle a home career and a work career as well and somewhere in between fit in soccer.”
Gerri Vaughan played soccer for 15 years before she called it quits. A nagging knee injury forced her hand.
She wishes she was still playing for a number of reasons: “the exercise, getting out with a great group of ladies and having some fun, the beers afterwards,” she laughed.
Vaughan hopes more women take up the sport.
“Women should get out there, get out and play the game,” she said. “As long as you can run, and you’re a little coordinated, you can play the game!”
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