I can't help but get excited to watch the US Women take on the "Group of Death" just as the US Men did during the World Cup just a year ago. The main difference between the men's team and women's team is that the women are not underdogs as the men were last year. However, the road to the final will not be a walk in the park as it has been in the past. With the pool of teams expanded from 16 to 24 this year, there seems to be no clear favorite to win it all. Thus, you have to stay tuned in to find out if American will be victorious.
In watching the games, I can't help but think about the planning that goes into an event of this scale. Obviously, Canada has had a very long time to plan this event. They won the bid in March 2011.
Since winning the bid, they selected venues, set up brackets, drew groups, worked with sponsors, sold tickets, hired security, marketed the event, catered to VIPs, enhanced technology, and worked with border control between the US and Canada, among other things. There was a lot to do to get ready for the World Cup. Today I'm going to highlight a major success and a controversial decision surrounding the Women's World Cup.
There are 14 cameras involved in using Hawk-Eye. The cameras track the ball throughout the game, even if only 3 of the cameras can locate the ball at a given time. The best part about this technology is that the officials on the field wear watches that vibrate and display the word "GOAL" when the ball crosses the goal line. The watch is wireless and helps the official on the filed instantly make her decision about a goal, and yes, I said her. The referees in Women's World Cup are all females.
Something else that was noted by the announcers was the temperature of the turf itself. The weather was actually gorgeous to be playing soccer at a cool 57 degrees, but the turf was 120 degrees! I even had to rewind the game to be sure that I heard that correctly. I don't think you can expect to see anyone sliding on the ground that is sure to burn your skin. Sorry to those of you that were hoping for a repeat of Brandi Chastain's final penalty kick in 199 where she ripped off her shirt and slid across the field. I don't think anyone wants 2nd degree burns on their knees.
There will continue to be successes and failures during each match and each event. Preparation is everything for an event planner, and World Cup hosts are no exception. The down side of experiencing an event failure during a World Cup, is that the whole world is watching. I've come to find out, that most of America is actually watching too. That's a win for soccer in my book!
In watching the games, I can't help but think about the planning that goes into an event of this scale. Obviously, Canada has had a very long time to plan this event. They won the bid in March 2011.
Since winning the bid, they selected venues, set up brackets, drew groups, worked with sponsors, sold tickets, hired security, marketed the event, catered to VIPs, enhanced technology, and worked with border control between the US and Canada, among other things. There was a lot to do to get ready for the World Cup. Today I'm going to highlight a major success and a controversial decision surrounding the Women's World Cup.
Goal-line Technology
We saw some of the goal-line technology used during the Brazil World Cup in 2014. Sitting at home, you are able to view a replay of the ball nearly crossing the goal line. As the ball neared the goal line, the camera angle freezes and moves to a bird's eye view to show you weather or not the ball crossed the line. The replay also takes out all the grass and the netting, so that you only see the ball and the goal line.There are 14 cameras involved in using Hawk-Eye. The cameras track the ball throughout the game, even if only 3 of the cameras can locate the ball at a given time. The best part about this technology is that the officials on the field wear watches that vibrate and display the word "GOAL" when the ball crosses the goal line. The watch is wireless and helps the official on the filed instantly make her decision about a goal, and yes, I said her. The referees in Women's World Cup are all females.
The Pitch
So far during this World Cup, we haven't heard about anything dangerous in the surrounding city areas as we did in Brazil, or even talk about the kind of travel a team has to do, despite being in a country that spans three time zones. However, we have heard about how an all-turf tournament may affect the play. Many players have said that the men would never agree to play strictly on turf (or on any turf for that matter). The ball moves faster on turf, which can interrupt how the game is played. I saw this first hand when I watched the US play Australia last week. I couldn't help but notice that the ball was consistently going out of bounds and the style of play was very disjointed. I initially chalked it up to the difference in women playing versus men, but I quickly realized that the US women play an attacking game, where we are consistently looking for a long ball. The result of playing this way on turf is more throw-ins and less possession. Until we adjust our play this may give an advantage to an opponent like Japan, who plays more short passes and possession.Something else that was noted by the announcers was the temperature of the turf itself. The weather was actually gorgeous to be playing soccer at a cool 57 degrees, but the turf was 120 degrees! I even had to rewind the game to be sure that I heard that correctly. I don't think you can expect to see anyone sliding on the ground that is sure to burn your skin. Sorry to those of you that were hoping for a repeat of Brandi Chastain's final penalty kick in 199 where she ripped off her shirt and slid across the field. I don't think anyone wants 2nd degree burns on their knees.
There will continue to be successes and failures during each match and each event. Preparation is everything for an event planner, and World Cup hosts are no exception. The down side of experiencing an event failure during a World Cup, is that the whole world is watching. I've come to find out, that most of America is actually watching too. That's a win for soccer in my book!