On the world day of working women, there is always talk of a world where the female role still has a long way to go, soccer. The woman in soccer has seen some challenges have been achieved in recent years, but we must continue demanding a more equal and important for the female figure in the sport in general Check ufabet for more details.

To learn more about how you live as a footballer in a women’s league, we have spoken with Málaga CF player Carmen Gómez, who received the “ Recognized ” award in 2017, an award given by the Malaga Provincial Council to women who are fighting for equality. Carmen is still in high school, but she is a basic pillar of Málaga CF Femenino “B”, recently promoted to the Second Division.

Valuing more the role of women in sport

Sport is a world where men have more impact today, women’s competitions do not have the same place in the media, despite being the ones that gave us the greatest joys in the last Games or that the women’s team played for the first time a World Cup in 2015.

“ In sports, women are very little helped and valued for what they deserve. With time, and above all effort, she is being rewarded, but not half of what she deserves. ” This is how emphatic Carmen is shown, who also believes that society ” gives more recognition to men’s sports than to women’s sports “.

Discriminatory cases, such as the one we met a few weeks ago in which a men’s team insulted and caused the suspension of a match between two sets of women’s leagues in Spain, do not favor the growth that is sought to achieve parity between men’s competitions. and women.

“ It seems incredible to me that in the time that we are continuing to see cases like this and even worse. All this continues to happen because those who have to do something about it do not do it and as long as this continues, we will continue to suffer, unfortunately, cases like this “, Carmen has told us about these events that continue to occur today.

Better support for women’s sports by everyone

In Spain, women’s football has experienced slight progress thanks to a more organized league and with an important sponsor behind, although for Carmen it is not enough yet. The Málaga player sees a promising future since she believes that ” now everyone is realizing that women’s football and sport in global terms.

His team has a very emotional story behind it. Atlético Málaga, the dean team of Andalusian women’s football, joined Malaga CF in the summer of 2016, an operation that demonstrated the commitment of the Blue and Whites’ organization to women’s football.

Since then, the team has achieved promotion to the First Division in the summer of 2018, which together with the subsidiary’s promotion to the Second Division in the same season, has served to certify the success of the club’s successful commitment to women’s football.

Recognition of their fight for equality

The Diputación de Málaga is in charge of delivering these awards, a recognition that was not expected and received with great joy. “It was vital to me, once they called me to let me know I didn’t believe it.”

Despite her joy, Carmen is confident that this is an award “that in a while it will not be necessary to give it, because all girls and women have to fight for their dreams and for what they want.

Jul 22, 2016; Kansas City, KS, USA; U.S. Women’s Olympic Soccer Team forward Mallory Pugh (2) tries to get past Costa Rica defender Lixy Rodrigues (12) in the USA vs Costa Rica friendly at Children’s Mercy Park. Mandatory Credit: Gary Rohman/MLS/USA TODAY Sports

Women’s football in the world

Historically, soccer has been associated with a men’s sport around the world, and women’s teams have been overshadowed, not having the same support or visibility.

The introduction of events such as the FIFA Women’s World Cup in 1991, the creation of the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup in 2002 and the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup in 2008 are just a few examples of the efforts that have been made to make this sport practiced by women visible.

Despite this,  currently, not all countries have a professional women’s league that seeks the professionalization of their players.In Europe, for example, there are some leagues such as the English, the Swedish, or the German that have a very strong tradition and many years of work behind.

Other countries such as Spain are a recent case on the way to professionalization, which today results in a first division tournament that has 16 Spanish teams playing two laps.

For the director, although this activity is not yet profitable, different investment efforts are being made to change the trend and support the players.

The transformation of the labor relations between the clubs and the professionals was a turning point that meant that an activity, which was not previously regulated, became governed by Spanish regulations.

According to Malabia, “it is noteworthy that for three years one of the terms that were set was that all the players had to have an employment contract, with a contribution to the social security system and a contribution of protection.”

Despite these efforts in Spain, footballers in the European country must face a huge salary gap as in the whole world.

Like the recent statements of some Colombian players,  Paula Ricart, a Valencia player, assures that a woman cannot live on soccer. This athlete, who has been playing in Spain for seven years and has developed her sports career there, argues that most players must have a ‘plan b‘  to sustain themselves financially.

“I am a medical student because in the long term I cannot count on soccer. We all have a parallel career because if there is already an important salary gap between ourselves, it is even greater with men’s soccer.  It’s kind of exorbitant, we don’t even earn a tenth of what a normal player earns. ”  

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In the case of the American continent, one of the strongest leagues is in the United States. Here, the women’s league is made up of nine teams, some associated with men’s teams.

The Chicago Red Starsis one of the independent women’s teams. Michael Niche, the team’s spokesman, believes that the women’s game is faster than the men’s and much more technical, which makes it more attractive.

“I think that in many of the men’s games you see something more physical and whenever there is a fall or a lack, everyone knows that there is a part of the theater in that. I would say that is never seen in the women’s game because they can be injured or they can fall and they recover quickly and continue playing. So if a viewer is looking for a game where you see a strong person, the women’s game may be the best option, “says Niche.

Health benefits of soccer for sedentary people

In our society, soccer is a very popular team sport with more than 400 million active players worldwide, due to motivational and social factors, it may contain great potential as a health promotion activity for inactive people passionate about this sport (1,2).

In soccer, many actions take places such as sprints, sudden accelerations and decelerations, maximum jumps, quick blows with the foot, and many other situations. This integration of different types of actions and exercises that occur in football seems to have a great impact on the three main areas of fitness ( metabolic fitness, cardiovascular fitness, musculoskeletal fitness ), which leads to a significant positive impact on risk. suffering from diseases derived from our current lifestyle (3).

Short and long-term studies have shown that regular participation in soccer training recreationally has a wide range of benefits in physical condition, as well as favorable effects on cardiovascular risk factors such as maximum oxygen consumption, cardiac function, or mass. body fat in sedentary young men and women (4).

In addition to short-term benefits, people who have played soccer permanently throughout their lives are associated with better left ventricular systolic function, better physical fitness, microvascular function, and healthier body composition than adults. healthy of the same age, but who have been most of their sedentary lives. What could reduce cardiovascular mortality and morbidity (5)?

The benefits of this sports practice in a recreational way have not only been examined in physiological parameters, but recreational soccer is also an activity that promotes social interaction, the creation of social capital and networks between people. It also appears to have the potential to promote long-term adherence to physical activity, even for men and women with no prior experience in the sport. In these inexperienced people, a rewarding psychological state and low concern scores were reported during the game, considering soccer training as a fun and rewarding activity in itself (6)..com

CARSON, CA – FEBRUARY 09: Forward Megan Rapinoe #15 of USA scores against Canada in the second half of a CONCACAF Women’s Olympic Qualifying final at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson on Sunday, February 9, 2020. The USA won 3-0. (Photo by Keith Birmingham/MediaNews Group/Pasadena Star-News via Getty Images)

What results is scientific research providing us with the health benefits of football?

Regular participation in recreational soccer training organized in the form of reduced game situations (5 × 5, 7 × 7, etc.), two to three times a week, has been an effective strategy, according to various authors, to provoke cardiovascular adaptations and significant muscle, including muscle growth and increased levels of muscle strength, regardless of age, sex or level of soccer experience (6).

One study (7) compared the effects of a recreational soccer program with a parallel intervention group that carried out continuous running. In this study, they found that during the 12 weeks of the program, the soccer group recorded, in contrast to the continuous running group, an increase in lean body mass and bone mass in the legs, as well as an increase in the oxidation of fats during the race and a significant reduction in LDL cholesterol levels.

These data suggest that intermittent exercise typical of an activity such as soccer, with maximum and submaximal periods of heart rate and multiple intense actions during training, stimulates the musculoskeletal system and causes important cardiovascular adaptations in 3 months.

Regarding its benefit in children and youth, soccer training has been demonstrated as a method to improve performance in intermittent exercises, coordination, and maximum oxygen consumption. Furthermore, for obese children, regular participation is at least as effective in improving physical condition, parameters related to health, and self-esteem as a traditional physical exercise program (6).

Improvements in bone mineral content and bone density area were also observed in prepubertal children who had participated in soccer activities for a year compared to a control group, indicating that participation in soccer at this age is not only positive for improving physical condition and decrease body fat mass but also to increase bone mass and density levels, a very important aspect to develop at these ages in the face of adult life (10).

In addition to all the effects observed in men, in recent years, the health effects of playing soccer recreationally in untrained women have shown increasing interest through publications that have examined the effects that this type of sport contributes to various parameters. health (1,11, 12, 13).

One of the studies (1) compared the cardiovascular health profile of a group of 27 elite soccer players (24.4 ± 4.0 years, 172 ± 5 cm and 64.3 ± 6.0 kg) with a control group of 28 untrained women (29, 3 ± 5.7 years, 168 ± 5 cm) and a group of 8 untrained women (27.0 ± 6.5 years, 169 ± 8 cm and 74.0 ± 10.8 kg) who participated in soccer training during a 16-week program. Although the results showed that elite-level players had a better cardiovascular health profile, a higher level of maximum oxygen consumption, a lower percentage of body fat and better cardiac function than the group of untrained women, the results also showed that the profile The cardiovascular health of the group of untrained women improved markedly through participation in soccer training.

On the other hand, if we focus on the benefits for the musculoskeletal system, it has been found that a group of 8 untrained women (27.0 ± 6.5 years, VO2max 33.8 ± 5.7 mL/min/kg) after participating in a 16-week recreational soccer program, they benefited from positive adaptations related to the musculoskeletal health profile, including an increase in lean mass, reduction of fat mass, and improved postural balance (14).

Benefits of playing soccer in children and adolescents

The benefits of playing soccer in children have been demonstrated, not only from the physical but mental level. In this article, we have created a list of nine benefits, some known by most, and others, surely surprising.

The emotional development of those who practice it

Soccer is a sport that moves passions, both for those who practice it and for those who play it. And if you don’t believe it, stop by a sports hall on a Sunday morning to see how the names of the boys from both teams cheer up and chant.

The camaraderie, responsibility towards the team, and the desire to excel are internalized in the little footballers, strengthening their character and developing their emotional intelligence.

Indicated for hyperactive children: they help to create discipline

The second of the benefits of playing soccer in children goes to the most active. Many times, as parents we find it difficult to set limits and mark the path of our children. Encouraging sport in the smallest is one of the best ways to create a discipline since they have the use of reason. As you become more and more committed, your accomplishments are coming.

Spirit of improvement

A little related to the previous point. The spirit of improvement will be one of the qualities that will make a difference in the future of your child. It does not matter if it is your work, personal or sentimental life; knowing how to overcome yourself will be the solution to your problems.

Encourage him to improve and don’t let him give up even if he’s not the best on the team. You may have sleeping abilities that are waiting to be polished.

Logical ability.

This is one of my favorites. How important logic is to make so many decisions! This sport helps them think quickly, every time they have to think about what would be the most appropriate move.

Knowing how to make decisions quickly speeds up time and allows us to use other things. Your little one will know how to be firm and make a quick and logical decision.

Help to socialize

As expected, the bonds that are created in a group are special. Sports like soccer help to socialize, since you share time, effort, defeats, and victories with people with the same interest and the same age.

Increase leg power

Physically, playing soccer, like any other sport, is going to help them get in shape, stay in a healthy state, and ward off obesity and other blights that attack children in the 21st century.

Besides, being a sport that promotes, above all, the lower body, it achieves an increase in the power of the legs.

Stimulates motor coordination: better balance, strength and good posture

Soccer is a complete exercise that develops large muscle groups and involves different aspects of the physical condition: strength, speed, stability or balance, good posture, etc. Another benefit of playing soccer in children is the improvement in motor coordination.

Oxygenates the blood and improves cardiovascular capacity

Like any self-respecting aerobic sport, soccer helps to oxygenate the blood and amplify cardiovascular capacity from a young age, facilitating their involvement with the sport when they grow up.

Increase testosterone

In both boys and girls, high impact movements and speed bursts favor the release of endorphins and the increase of testosterone, to obtain much more robust muscle tissue.

Improves adaptability to changes

Soccer is a sport in which you cannot be focused on something alone since you have to be very aware of the external factors that will be the ones that modify the future of the game.

What is causing all these adaptations?

One of the characteristics that may be causing such favorable results and in such diverse populations, from youth to adults, regardless of age and sex, maybe the high heart rate rates observed in different types of recreational soccer training, through the variation in the number of players and the playing space. These play situations, usually in tight spaces (4 × 4, 5 × 5, 6 × 6, 7 × 7), seem to have the potential to create physiological adaptations and improve performance with regular training in all of this variety of population groups. (8).

Besides, factors such as the number of players or the size of the playing area affect the responses in terms of heart rate, increasing the cardiovascular demand of the game when it is carried out with fewer players. Therefore the number of players stands as a primary factor when it comes to controlling the intensity of tasks and training in soccer (16).

 The true protagonists of the game

As you have read, soccer can contribute much more than it is currently contributing to us. As a show we all want this sport to continue offering us its best stars through our televisions and soccer stadiums. But little by little, we have to get the true protagonists of this game to be all those people who are sitting on the sofa, waiting to see their idols.

This sport gives us too many physiological justifications to give it the importance it deserves in terms of health promotion in the society. Soccer can become a great tool to cross the line of sedentary lifestyle and inactivity for thousands of people who love this sport and move towards more active and healthy behaviors.

In the next publication of this series of two articles, we will talk about the effects of soccer practice in people with pathologies of great social relevance such as hypertension, obesity or type II diabetes, among others, again under the perspective of the latest research and of this new line of research that is emerging to give soccer a new perspective: the perspective of the benefits of soccer for health.

Addison

Addison is a student of the Aust Abbottabad University of Science and Technology. He started his graduation in 2016 and graduated in 2020. I’m a professional article and blog writer, has written dozens of content on different topics and worked with professionals all over the globe. Feel free to contact me for any assistance. [email protected]