Soccer is for the men

 At the end of our hike within Edita when we stopped by the sacred rock where the children were playing, I was surprised to see that only the boys were playing soccer. Some of the girls were coloring, others were playing clapping games, and even a few of them were cheering the boys on, but none of them were playing soccer. When we stepped up to where the older children were playing I noticed that all of the boys were standing in a circle throwing a ball around, while only one girl was standing, and the rest of the girls were sitting. When gender discrepancies in recess activities in young children are so obvious, one cannot help but wonder if the children are being conditioned or encouraged towards playing soccer or sitting on the sidelines. Young children especially have minimal agency, so if is likely that they are being influenced by something. Is it their parents? Teachers? The popular male soccer teams? 

Additionally, when we went to the bar to watch the champions league final, the only women in the bar were waitresses. The bar was packed with men. Why is soccer watching also an all-male phenomenon? 

I grew up playing soccer on a co-Ed team (ages 5-10), which was encouraged and set up by my parents. Perhaps soccer playing is more co-Ed in the USA.