About Gamechanger Soccer

Soccer is king in the sporting world. For decades, more people have both watched it and played it than any other game.

So what happens when girls and women enter the mix of a traditionally male-dominated sport? Precisely because of its popularity, soccer is a powerful vehicle for creating cultural change. Female participation, at any and all levels, is not just good for women and girls, nor is it simply good for the game, it’s good for society. From demanding unprecedented levels of accountability within FIFA to reducing levels of violence at matches through their sheer presence, women change the game – and thereby the culture around it.

Gamechangersoccer com is about exploring that premise/ Based on interviews with global superstars (past and present), coaches, former FIFA executives, up-and-coming players, and social commentators, Gamechangers explores cultural issues reflected in the sport: substantial pay gaps, unequal facilities, sexist media coverage, lack of representation in governing bodies, and inadequate access to the game itself. As these norms are challenged, the societies that held them in place are faced with a choice between clinging to the status quo or embracing the new reality of women claiming equal space on an increasingly level playing field.

About Heidi

Heidi Smith is a full-time freelance writer who splits her time between creating stories for several online and print publications and her copywriting business, Sunheart Writing. After 13 years of teaching everything from middle school to community college and an additional ten as a facilitator and trainer, she took the leap into entrepreneurship and hasn’t looked back. For four years she was the editor-in-chief of SuperConsciousness Magazine, which focused on human potential in its many forms.

She began playing soccer at age seven and eventually played one season as a redshirt for her college team at California State University, Chico before moving to Hawaii where she played for the 1991 Hawaii State Select team. When not conducting interviews, she can be found hiking, cheering on the Seahawks, enjoying her friends, or hanging out with her dogs on a five-acre home off the grid outside Yelm, Washington (probably in her bathrobe).