As part of the World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, former US goalkeeper Janine Spara visited Uruguay | Daily

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Janina Spara, former US Soccer goalkeeper and current head coach and Coach deportiva visited Uruguay to learn about the reality of local women’s soccer and to exchange with women associated with the sport.

Spara made his debut as a goal scorer for the United States in the 1986 Mundialito against China. At club level he played for Japan’s Shiroki FC Serena, Takarasuka Bunnies Ladies SC, Norcal Shockwaves and Foothill FC. After retiring as a player, she obtained her US Soccer A license and began training specializing in goal scoring.

Since then he has coached for various clubs in his country and some in Japan. He played against the Stanford Cardinal, Shiroki FC Serena, Cornell Big Red, Santa Clara Broncos, San José State Spartans, Warner Pacific Knights, Portland State Vikings, Portland Rains, Clackamas Cougars, St. Went through Mary’s Academy, etc. Additionally, he was part of the Olympic Development Program in California from 1989 to 1992 and Oregon from 2006 to 2017.

Spara later traveled as a sports ambassador for his country’s State Department as a youth soccer coach, conducting clinics in Guatemala, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mexico, Singapore, and Vietnam. Currently, he is a trainer and CoachUS Soccer’s A license is available, focusing mainly on goalkeeping training.

As part of the FIFA Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand starting July 20, the US Embassy in Uruguay invited Spara to learn about Uruguayan women’s soccer.

Exchange the balls

In Uruguay, Spara was involved in different cases of exchanges with the Uruguayan Football Association, the Interior Football Organization and other interest groups.

They asked her from the embassy to think about activities for the under-16, under-19 and first division of local football, so she organized motivational talks for players and exchanges with coaches and trainers about training tactics and techniques. About the reality of local women’s soccer. In turn, she decided to meet a group of women journalists and exchange ideas.

“I chose to come to Uruguay to learn and contribute to the country, because I believe that as a people we are closer than far, we have more in common than what separates us. So I think I like going to places where I feel that and affirming that,” Spara said. Daily.

celestial reality

Of what she’s seen of local women’s soccer, Spara said she thought she’d find fewer coaches and fewer players while preparing for the trip. “Even though I didn’t see 50% of women playing football, I saw more than I thought. The number of women involved in football, playing or sports journalists, is more than I thought,” the coach said.

In turn, Spara has a meeting regarding the obstacles faced by soccer players in the United States and Uruguay: “The obstacles we faced and continue to face in America; For example, within our own families, we are told that girls don’t play football or that girls are outsiders who don’t like playing football. It is a difficult addiction that no one can overcome. In any country where this happens, the challenges are very similar,” he explained.

For Spara, the solution lies precisely in doing what she came to Sarua Lands: “I think the most important thing to face this is to build a team, to come together as players, coaches and women in organizations and federations. We have to remove the things that hold us back bit by bit,” he added.

Ideas for change

In a meeting with journalists, Spara opened the exchange of experts on the current state of women’s football. “In this meeting where we are, you exchange about the reality, about what is happening, about the conditions the players have now and their realities as football staff, which is the first way to find solutions. “Getting together and exchanging is the number one priority,” said the American.

In that way, John laid on the table what was one of the turning points for the development of federal women’s soccer in the United States. In 1972, he said, they created a law requiring men and women to be given the same equipment in soccer at any public institution.

“It’s a slow change like everyone else, but now there are women who dedicate themselves full-time to soccer, although if a man wants to play soccer he doesn’t question it; if a woman wants to, they ask her questions,” she said.

In this sense, colleagues determined possible solutions so that Uruguayan women’s football continues to grow. They agreed that creating spaces for learning about gender perspectives was one of the key needs, as they acknowledged that the lack of support for discipline and lack of interest in women among some football spectators is linked to the broader issue of gender. Inequality, the emergence of new followers, the contribution of resources by the clubs, the administration of the Uruguayan Football Association, creates prejudices and assumptions around this branch of the sport that hinders diffusion and visibility. For this, it is necessary to break some established schemes and communicate with a grounded perspective such as promoting gender equality and overcoming gender discrimination.

“You have the power to change the narratives that are presented, and there’s a lot of struggle around that right now in America. It’s not just about what we talk about, it’s about what we express and what we express, it’s important to have visibility,” Spara concluded.