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I Don’t Even Like Soccer…

Jennifer R. Povey
4 min readNov 29, 2022
Photo by Travel Nomades on Unsplash

Honestly, I never have. I don’t follow it. I’m technically a Nottingham Forest fan because growing up in that area, you were a Forest fan or a County fan. Neutrality was unacceptable. I picked the team which won more games, which probably says I’m a shameless huckster.

The reason I don’t like soccer is because I associate it with misogyny. I would kick around a ball with other kids, and I really wanted to learn to play the game. My dyspraxia makes throwing a ball hard. Kicking one was easier.

“Stop doing that. You’re a girl.”

Not from my parents, but from every other adult. In England in the early 80s, girls didn’t play soccer.

I don’t hate soccer the way I used to after being told I couldn’t do the only ball sport I had any ability to do. But…

…so why am I hearing so much about the World Cup?

And none of it’s good, either.

No, Americans, Drawing Against Wales Makes You A Bad Team, Actually

An American reporter said that the draw against Wales means America belongs. (America’s women’s team is good, but in America soccer is a girl’s game, real men play football. Of course, in the U.K. real men and real women play rugby).

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Jennifer R. Povey
Jennifer R. Povey

Written by Jennifer R. Povey

I write about fantasy, science fiction and horror, LGBT issues, travel, and social issues.

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