It's A Girl's Game!

KICKERZONE is finally on its way to becoming a reality. Im just missing one thing, my topic. I know I want to appeal to the younger generation, so I have to focus on a topic that interests all younger kids. Since kids these days are mainly fighting for equality and fairness, I have decided to explore the topic of Gender Equality on the field from the viewpoint of young women.

Reading the research I found, saddened me terribly. Ever since I was little, I knew women did not earn as much as men for the same job; but I only recently started researching about this pay gap issue. The gender pay gap is a huge issue in sports. Can you believe U.S. Women only earn $2 million for winning a World Cup while men earn $35 million for the same champion title? It's outrages. Gender pay gap has always been an obstacle in Women's lives but I never really realized how important it actually is in sports.

This pay gap isn't the only thing women have to face in soccer, they also are limited to playing on turf, an artificial soccer field. Playing on turf has many harmful effects such as cancer resulting from the burnt rubber pieces. Huffington Post writer Peter Andrew, interviewed Amy Griffin, a goal keeper from the U.S. Women's National Team, about her experience in tracking American soccer players with cancer. She has discovered that many kids that play on artificial turf, end up getting cancer. Her research shows that crumb-rubber pellets, made of recycled tires, can contain toxic chemicals, metals and carcinogens. How is it fair for Women soccer players to be forced to play on these harmful fields? Men don't have to, why should we?

Along with cancerous effects, turf fields can cause painful bruises, scrapes, and cuts that can lead to harmful scarring. For instance, Sydney Leroux, a player on the U.S. Women's National Team, has posted many pictures showing the damage done by turf fields:

 

@sydneyleroux: This is why soccer

 should be played on grass!

These facts empowered me to mainly focus KICKERZONE on girls on the field. No more inequality.

It's a Girl's Game!

- AC

Carmon, Irin. "Four Depressing Stats about Gender Inequity in Soccer." MSNBC. NBCUniversal News Group, 06 July 2015. Web. 16 Mar. 2017. <http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/four-depressing-stats-about-gender-inequity-soccer-world-cup>. 

Dwyer, Sydney Leroux. "This Is Why Soccer Should Be Played on Grass! Pic.twitter.com/fsNGi27oRY." Twitter. Twitter, 15 Apr. 2013. Web. 16 Mar. 2017. <https://twitter.com/sydneyleroux/status/323630086249140224>. 

"Gender Differences." Soccer Politics / The Politics of Football. N.p., 28 Apr. 2015. Web. 16 Mar. 2017. <https://sites.duke.edu/wcwp/tournament-guides/world-cup-2015-guide/all-about-that-turf/gender-differences/>. 

Hart, Peter Andrew. "Worries Mount Over Potential Link Between Artificial Turf And Cancer." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 14 Apr. 2016. Web. 16 Mar. 2017. <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/cancer-artificial-turf-crumb-rubber_us_570960a3e4b0142232493441>.