Cleats, Courage, Change: How Women’s Soccer Took Over The World (Win!)

Before the packed stadiums, global fandom, and World Cup glory, women’s soccer was a story of resistance, resilience, and radical joy. In her compelling new book Girls with Goals: How Women’s Soccer Took Over the World, author Clelia Castro-Malaspina traces the sport’s journey from its humble 19th-century beginnings to its status as a worldwide movement.

Part history lesson, part cultural deep dive, and all heart, Girls with Goals is a tribute to the women who dared to play—and the generations they’ve inspired. We sat down with Clelia to talk about the incredible rise of the game, the stories that shaped it, and why women’s soccer is just getting started. —Noa Nichol

What inspired you to write Girls with Goals, and what do you hope readers—especially young girls—take away from it?

When I was a teenager, soccer was a huge part of my life. To this day, some of my best friends are women that I played with when I was young. It was during that era I was also completely charmed by the 1999 U.S. women’s soccer team. This team and that World Cup really helped me feel my own power as a girl for one of the first times in my life. And I know I’m one of countless thousands who felt that way. With this book, I wanted to celebrate this sport that so many love and so many have drawn inspiration from. My hope is that young players and fans will see how generations of women fought so hard to get to this moment in the sport. For them to understand that when they kick a ball around freely, that’s the product of years of defiance and persistence by many courageous footballers. I hope the story of these women inspires girls to fight for what they love.

Women’s soccer has faced incredible obstacles, from outright bans to institutional neglect. What was the most surprising or inspiring historical moment you uncovered during your research?

Prior to my research for this book, I’d never heard that the UK had essentially banned women from playing soccer for 50 years, as well as several other countries. I didn’t know that, in Brazil, it was straight up against the law for women to play soccer. I think I was most humbled and shocked when I learned that as a girl, Dilma Mendes, who coached the Brazilian National Team in the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup, would dig a ditch next to the field she was playing at with boys so she had somewhere to immediately hide if the police showed up. That shows how serious the situation was. It also shows how brave these girls had to be to play—and how much they loved the game to risk so much.

The book highlights the stories of marginalized players in the sport. Can you share an example of an athlete whose journey particularly resonated with you?

One of my favorite eras to research was the very early days of women’s soccer. I learned about this epic Englishwoman who went by Nettie Honeyball, which was pseudonym. She founded the British Ladies Football Club which was the first ever women’s soccer club anywhere in the world. She had this amazing I-don’t-give-a-damn attitude. This was Victorian-era England, and the idea that women were not staying at home in their corsets and billowy skirts was so offensive and scandalous to so many. With her football club, Nettie was proposing that women play a man’s game, in shorts, without corsets—in public no less. It was absolutely scandalizing at the time. And she was smart too, she aligned the Football Club with members of the aristocracy and got them a respectable coach who was a well-known retired men’s player. She was also an amazing hype woman, creating a lot of press ahead of their first game.  The games were really popular and even reported around the world, exposing so many more people to the idea that women could play soccer. It took a real character to get the sport going, and even thought she was (from what historians could uncover) a middleclass woman without much societal power, she did this big, bold thing that helped pave the way for so many.

What do you think is the next big step for women’s soccer on a global scale? Are there still barriers that need to be broken?

Women’s soccer has come so far, but there is still more growth to be had. While women’s soccer is so accepted and celebrated in many countries, there are still many countries where it is taboo for women to play soccer, or sports in general. Even in the countries where women’s soccer is so well-established, like the U.S., women still have to fight to earn facilities equal to male pro athletes. I also think there is room for growth in the development of equipment and training that is catered to female bodies. I think seeing more women in the business soccer in general, especially in positions of power and not just in women’s pro soccer—on the men’s side too. As we’ve seen, improvements in the world of women’s soccer tend to leak down to other women’s sports, so what’s good for women’s soccer is good for everyone.

As an author with a background in law and publishing, how has your experience shaped the way you approach writing about advocacy and empowerment in sports?

I was an attorney very early on in my professional life, for only three years, but that experience made me understand the realities of being a woman in a male-dominated industry. Especially as a young woman, I found it difficult to be taken as seriously as my male colleagues, whether it was with other attorneys, in court, or with clients. This experience resonated with me as I was writing this book—female footballers have faced over a hundred years of pushback from men at every level of the sport. I am now in children’s publishing, which is heavily populated by women. I think because our industry services children, we feel a higher calling to help get books into the hands of young and upcoming generations that make them kinder, smarter, more open-minded, better equipped to understand the world. This always felt like advocacy to me—we’re on this collective mission to help younger generations. This also resonated when I wrote this book, these athletes so often said that they were motivated to push for change, not for themselves, but for the younger generations. The story of women’s soccer is such a victorious one, and I really want this book to instill hope—that with determination, tides can change.

Win! 1 of 10 Copies of Girls with Goals: How Women’s Soccer Took Over the World!

Congrats Vanessa R. of Saskatoon, SK, Nadeem H. of Kitchener, ON, Bryce E. of Halifax, NS, Myriam H. of Montreal, QC, and Xu Liang L. of Nepean, ON, who will each receive a copy of Girls with Goals: How Women’s Soccer Took Over the World! Please note: if you are the winner, you will receive a DM (direct message) in Instagram directly from @vitadailymedia. Please be wary of fake accounts, which often use similar handles with an extra or missing letter, number or symbol. We will never ask for a payment or for your credit card number, and we will never ask you to click through a link. If you are unsure whether you have been contacted, via Instagram, by us or a fake account, email us before responding.