It is no secret that many sports are male-dominated, and soccer is no exception. From as early as elementary school age, young girls are often encouraged to participate in ‘feminine’ sports such as netball and hockey.
Meanwhile, young boys are often encouraged to play ‘masculine’ sports such as soccer and American football. This leads to fewer young girls taking an interest in such sports.
Young girls who aspire to become professional soccer players also have far fewer same-sex role models to look up to. This is because female soccer is less celebrated, less televised, and therefore, there are fewer professional players.
In fact, most highly-skilled female soccer players are unable to take up the sport professionally. Less than 1% of all the professional soccer players in the world are female.
This is less than female engineers (11% of the world total) and pilots (5%). Structures such as this send a damaging message to young girls- “soccer is not a viable career for women.”
Despite this, the women who have managed to forge a successful soccer career continue to inspire young girls to keep playing. We’ve compiled a list of quotes from soccer stars and enthusiasts, most of which are women.
Let’s kick-off with some quotes that inspire you to achieve your goals- by scoring goals!
1. “My coach said I ran like a girl. I said if he tried a little harder he could too.
- Mia Hamm
2. “This is my charge to everybody. Do what you can. Do what you have to do. Step outside of yourself. Be more. Be better. Be bigger than you’ve ever been before.”
- Megan Rapinoe
3. “I know, firsthand that soccer brings people together- all it takes is a ball and a few people, and the seeds of friendship are planted.”
- Ali Krieger
4. “Forget the glass slippers. This princess wears cleats.”
- Unknown Author
5. “Every single day I wake up and commit myself to becoming a better player.”
- Mia Hamm
6. “Everything happens for a reason if you work hard for it.”
- Julie Ertz
7. “Always work hard, never give up, and fight until the end because it’s never really over until the whistle blows.”
- Alex Morgan
8. “Failure happens all the time. It happens every day in practice. What makes you better is how you react to it.”
- Mia Hamm
9. “It’s hard to beat someone that never gives up.”
- Megan Rapinoe
10. “My mindset is to always be ready. I told myself that I wasn’t going to be left off the team for not trying hard enough.”
- Becky Sauerbrunn
11. “Don’t let anybody work harder than you.”
- Carli Lloyd
12. “When I put on our US kit, I do it for my family and for my country. But I understand now that I also do it for every single American girl out there who wants to see someone who looks like them, and whose story reminds them of their own when they watch their women’s national team.”
- Crystal Dunn
13. “Playmakers are team players. They’re selfless, and their strengths bring out the strengths of their teammates.”
- Tobin Heath
14. “If they think your dreams are crazy, show them what crazy dreams can do.”
- Julie Ertz
15. “Every champion was once a beginner that didn’t quit.”
- Mia Hamm
16. “If you only ever give 90% in training, then you will only ever give 90% when it really matters.”
- Michael Owen
17. “Only you can build your ladder to success. Attitude and effort are everything.”
- Alex Morgan
18. “I will fight for it. I will not give up. I will reach my goal and absolutely nothing is going to stop me.”
- Hope Solo
19. “When people succeed, it is because of hard work. Luck has nothing to do with success.”
- Diego Maradona
20. “It’s not about what you have or what you don’t have. What matters is what you choose to do with what you’ve got.”
- Kelley O’Hara
21. “Behind all of the hours of practice, and all the coaches who pushed you, there’s a little girl who first shot the ball, fell in love with the game, and never looked back…”
- Unknown Author
22. “We decided to do this for all of the little girls across the country and around the world who deserve to have a voice, and if we don’t leverage the voice we have, we are letting them down.”
- Alex Morgan
23. “You can’t just beat a team, you have to leave a lasting impression on their minds so that they never want to see you again.”
- Mia Hamm
24. “I’ve never scored a goal in my life without getting a pass from someone else.”
- Abby Wambach
25. “Some people think soccer is a matter of life or death. I don’t like that attitude. I can assure them that it is much more serious than that.”
- Bill Shankly
26. “Being smaller than the other players just means you have to work hard to prove your strengths, toughness, and ability to compete with the bigger players.”
- Mallory Pugh
27. “There’s no better feeling than stepping out on the field and stunning them all by doing what none of them thought you could do.”
- Ashlyn Harris
28. “Every morning, look in the mirror and tell yourself: Do not doubt my motivation, determination, toughness, commitment, perseverance, mental ability, nor my desire. Most of all, do not underestimate what I can achieve.”
- Alex Morgan
29. “Success is no accident. It is hard work, perseverance, learning, studying, sacrifice, and most of all, love of what you are doing.”
- Pele
30. “It’s not about ‘having time’. Everyone has the same amount of time. It is about using the time that you have.”
- Julie Johnston
Why should more women play soccer?
It makes you a better team player
Taking part in a team-oriented sport such as soccer teaches women to work together to achieve their goals.
It also gives them the opportunity to form friendships and bonds with other players, as their relationship would be built upon trust in a healthy environment.
Many female soccer players describe a comforting sense of support and camaraderie that comes along with being part of a team.
Playing soccer gives girls the opportunity to improve their conflict resolution skills, which can be beneficial in all walks of life.
It improves your overall health
Taking part in pretty much any physical activity can improve your chances of maintaining a healthy weight, improving cardiovascular health, and overall mood.
Soccer in particular is a fantastic example of a cardio workout and after a full-length match, you would have burned a whole ton of calories.
It has been proven that girls who participate in sports have a lower risk of developing breast cancer than those who are physically inactive.
It can benefit your mental health
Playing a team sport such as soccer can help to boost self-esteem, especially in young girls. This is because firstly if they play soccer they’re more likely to have a healthy physique and maintain a healthy weight, providing that they’re exercising or training often enough. Maintaining a healthy body weight not only improves your health, but it can improve your mind too.
Girls that play soccer also have the benefit of having a motivational coach and understanding peers to guide them as they grow. Many young soccer players see their coach as a parental, confidante figure that they can turn to for advice in times of struggle.
The relationship between players, coaches, and teams can give young girls a sense of security and protection, almost acting as a second family unit. These positive connections inspire a “can-do” attitude and motivate young girls to be the best that they can be.
Playing soccer can help to provide a healthy and realistic beauty standard for young girls, too. With many girls being exposed to unattainable body goals and digitally enhanced images in magazines and on television, soccer can provide a welcome break from this constant bombardment of toxicity.
As soccer players tend to get very muddy on the pitch, a lot more focus is put on the game rather than aesthetics. Many famous female soccer players choose to avoid discussing appearance and instead decide to encourage young girls to use their strength and talent to achieve their goals.
It can improve academic performance
Believe it or not, taking part in a team sport such as soccer can improve the chances of good grades. Girls who have a strong support network and relationships with their players and coach are less likely to suffer from stress and anxiety.
An improvement in physical fitness that comes with it can further reduce stress, too. A child that is happy and surrounded by people who care for them has more time to focus on their schoolwork and tends to be more confident in their work, too.
Research shows that girls who play sports do better in school and are more likely to graduate than those who don't. This is most likely because exercise improves learning, memory, and concentration, which can give active girls an advantage in the classroom.
It teaches coordination
As soccer involves many constant shifts between walking, running, sprinting, and kicking, coordination is key to playing this sport.
When young people play soccer, complex movements such as dribbling, turning, and passing performed over long periods of time will improve their game. This is because the actions taken during a soccer game are all performed at varying rates of speed and direction.
Playing soccer can also improve your hand-eye coordination. This is because when players kick the ball or receive a pass from another player, they must react quickly and accurately to get the results that they want.
The better a player’s coordination, the better advantage they have over the opposing team in a match.
