Final Reflection

               I had such a great experience creating my 5 interview podcast about the opportunity for women’s soccer around the world. From this experience I’ve learned that different countries are far more progressive in this area that others. In Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Lesotho, access to girls soccer is extremely limited. Ati, from Costa Rica, explained that the root of the inadequate opportunity for girls soccer is the rooted sexism in the country. Mary and Hana, speaking about Nicaragua and Lesotho respectively, had very similar answers as Ati, saying that girls have certain expectations from society and their families, and playing soccer is not one of them in these countries. Mary even explained that hardly any girls she works with in Nicaragua can name a single female athlete, because women’s sports have no part in their culture and their upbringing. Even in Colombia and the United States, the countries that I interviewed in that are closer to creating equal opportunities for female and male soccer players, there is still gender inequity.  While girls and boys may have equal access to recreational soccer in those countries, there is still a long way to go with the professional women’s soccer in terms of wage gap and condition of facilities.  Although I altered the questions for each interview, there was one question that I asked every person. What do you think needs to change in society all over the world in order for girls and women to begin to have equal opportunity for soccer? I got a variety of answers, but they all revolved around one similar thing: people need to change their attitudes and acknowledge the positive impact that playing soccer has on girls and women. The bigger issue here isn’t that girls don’t have equal opportunity for soccer, it’s that the female sex doesn’t have equal opportunity in society in general because of preconceived opinions and stereotypes. Giving girls the opportunity to play soccer is one small piece of an enormous puzzle that is gender equality, but we need to start somewhere. That’s what I’ve learned from making this podcast.

            Although overall I believe that my podcast was successful, there are definitely a few things I would change if I were to do it over again. For example, I’d email my contacts before the project even started, to ensure that they would email back in time. Also, I would learn a little more about sound effects with “Audacity” on my computer. I think the biggest flaw in my podcast is sometimes the volume switches from very loud to very quiet, due to not having professional software or equipment to record my phone calls. If I were to do the project again, I’d try and see if there was any other way of recording that would give me better sound. Despite that minor change, I’m very happy with the outcome of my project. I’m excited to have something tangible that I can bring to college and show potential employers. I think the combination of this podcast and my TED Talk that I made earlier this year will be very helpful in the future for me!