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When the Olympics and World Cups come around, that's when you see the real outpouring of support that there really is for female football.

Men can have a huge turnover of sponsorship and still survive a lot better than the women. But the women's ratings are better, at least at home in the United States than in the men's tennis.

I think women athletes who have been successful need to help other sports, those sports that are just emerging. That's what I've been thinking about and looking forward to.

But the reason that women's football is still unknown is because it's not on television and not widely publicised for a wide majority of the leagues in the world.

Women in sports television are allowed to read headlines, patrols sidelines, and generally facilitate conversation for their male colleagues. Sometimes, they even let us monitor the Internet from a couch.

Women's tennis has been around for a very long time - we're talking about the 1800s. But women's soccer hasn't had such a long history, so now they're right at the beginning of really trying to make things equal. We need to continue not only to advocate for women but to have men advocating for women.

When it comes to women, there has been a tendency to define women in sports in the context of their relationships - they watch games because their husbands watch. They're interested because their kids play a sport. They buy tickets to a sporting event because it's a way to spend time with family.

It is truly a privilege to be able to support all women's causes on a global level. It is remarkable that something as simple as television can empower us to create change and awareness in the world.

Clearly, those of us women who play football wish that there was more coverage.