TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER 1 The Game That Started a Movement 4 CHAPTER 2 Fighting for Their Rights 8 CHAPTER 3 To Reach Out a Hand 14 CHAPTER 4 A Melting Pot 20 CHAPTER 5 The Legacy 24 THINK ABOUT IT 30 LEARN MORE 31 GLOSSARY 32 INDEX 32
chapter 1 The Game That Started a Movement Soccer is one of the most popular sports in the world The earliest records show a form of soccer called Tsu’Chu played in the Han dynasty in the third to fourth century In 1863 London clubs codified the game Soccer officially split from rugby and became its own sport Millions of people spanning six continents play soccer each year Clubs camps and tournaments help players of all abilities practice their skills and technique The biggest soccer tournament is the World Cup which is played every four years Millions of fans watched the Women’s World Cup in 2015 Interest in women’s soccer exploded in 1999 The 1999 FIFA Women’s World Cup brought country wide and global attention to women’s soccer China 4 21st century skills library
Representing the United States of America in the 1999 Women’s World Cup and the United States played excellent offense and defense Following the regular 90 minutes of play and 30 minutes of extra time neither team had scored Despite her typical brilliant performance forward Mia Hamm widely considered the best female soccer player in the world was unable to score With the temperature in the 90s Fahrenheit 30s Celsius both exhausted teams chose five players to take penalty kicks The ball was placed on a circle 12 yards 11 meters from the goal China and the U S took turns shooting China missed its third penalty kick 5 Sports Unite Us Photo Caption
