Fútnotes, Volume 25

The Athletic’s Meg Linehan and Steph Yang recently co-published an article about their upcoming coverage of the Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, and beyond hyping people up for two of the best to cover the biggest tournament on earth, it shined a light on just how difficult it is to cover women’s soccer. Among the anecdotes included is one about Yang having to buy a ticket to the 2015 Final “in order to cover it from nosebleed seats in BC Place.”

It’s not an easy journey for sure.

Meg and Steph are going as some of the only dedicated women’s soccer writers in the country. Others are going too, but those that are going for large outlets don’t solely cover women’s soccer and those that solely cover women’s soccer are paying out of their own pockets (or in the case of my good friends at Diaspora United, Shea Butter FC, and Gal Pal Sports are going thanks to crowdfunding efforts). This isn’t to throw shade at anyone going, rather to ask why it has to be this way.

Businesses like to talk a big game about supporting women, but when it comes time to actually pony up money to support women’s sports by doing things like paying to send qualified journalists or subsidizing outlets, it’s crickets. I’ve seen really good, talented people simply stop covering women’s soccer because they couldn’t afford to do it anymore. To pay out of pocket to go to and from games, sometimes having to pay to actually attend the games, to spend the time, energy, and talent to cover a game to make no money will wear you down.

To be meta about this, I’m writing this as I’m watching the league I cover on a pirated stream for an outlet I started on my own with no current pay structure. I’m thankful I have a day job that affords me the luxury of being able to do this, but it does take a toll. It’s a constant grind: working all day and writing all night except on the weekends, where it’s writing most of the day and night.

Perhaps I’m an idiot for doing all this. But this game has given me so much, and I want to repay it in the only way I know how - by telling its stories. And there are so many more stories to tell.

México

Congratulations to Viridiana Salazar for becoming Pachuca’s leading goal scorer with 83 goals! On a team with Mónica Ocampo, Charlyn Corral, and Jenni Hermoso, it’s a testament to the quality and staying power of Virigol. (Pachuca’s Twitter)

Former Tigres midfielder Natalia Gaitán signed with Santa Fe in Colombia.

El Míster did a great dive into the business of Liga MX Femenil that is definitely worth your time (and a subscription to their Substack).

Ana Gaby Paz had a gender reveal for her baby, and it was hilarious and beautiful. (Atlas Femenil’s Twitter)

Tigres and América will both host friendlies against FC Barcelona Femení.

Speaking of Tigres, they announced the opening of a nursing room at Estadio Universitario, the first in a soccer stadium. (Tigres) 

Thank you for reading Golazo del Gringo! If you enjoyed reading this post, please share it with anyone who enjoys women’s soccer.

Rest of the World

Canadian Journalist Rick Westhead keeps uncovering really damning stuff about Canada Soccer and how the Canadian Women’s National Team is being exploited by their federation. On Friday, Westhead revealed details of Canada Soccer’s sponsorship contract with Gatorade, noting “Gatorade pays performance bonuses based on success of MNT & WNT national teams.

Those bonuses go to CSB, meaning if the Canadian women's national team excels at the World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, Gatorade will effectively pay a bonus to the owners of the CPL, a domestic men's pro league.” (Rick Westhead’s Twitter)

Speaking of Canada, Theo Lloyd-Hughes wrote about Nichelle Prince’s incredible comeback to make the CanXNT squad.

Club Vélez player Nicolás Álvarez has come out as trans. Álvarez will continue playing with Vélez’ women’s side for the time being, because his DNI (national registration) still has his female identity listed. (TN.com.ar)

A difficult read, but a necessary one about abuses at Crossfire Premier, a youth soccer club outside of Seattle. (KNKX)

Jenna Tonelli did a great interview with Sinead Farrelly ahead of her World Cup debut with the Republic of Ireland and how she got back into soccer. (New York Post)

Megan Reyes did a four part podcast on the Philippines Women’s National Team’s first appearance at the World Cup and how the team largely made up of Filipino-Americans helped her explore her own Filipino-American identity. Find it on your favorite streaming platform.

Just enjoy this Nike commercial, featuring Brasil’s Debinha. You’re welcome.

2,357 spectators showed up in La Florida for the Clásico Universitario in Chile between Universidad de Chile and Universidad Cátolica, after the match had to be moved from the secondary fields of the Precordillera to the Estadio Bicentenario de La Florida, where Audax men’s home matches are played. They drew more than the average Audax game minus the clásico against Universidad Cátolica - and even if you add that in it’s just an average of 2,718 or 361 more.

Don’t ever let them tell you no one pays attention to women’s soccer.

If you have something that should be included in this segment, please reach out to me via twitter or email me at [email protected].