In terms of soccer, it wasn't really a thing that girls did. In England it more kind of Net Ball and Hockey and stuff like that in athletics. It's to each their own, really.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
And of course in America you've got American football and baseball and all those other ball games, soccer has become a little niche that the women have kind of filled.
In recent generations, women's sports have been a blessing. Some of us can remember the bad old days in the '50s, when we would discover in casual schoolyard play that a girl could outrun most of us or hold her own in basketball or hit a softball - but there were no teams, no coaches, for girls.
When I was in school, there was no such thing as girls' athletics.
Going out and playing football or baseball with the boys, when I was a tomboy, was a great way to learn about winning and losing, and most girls didn't have that experience.
In London there was an article about all these girls bending it like Beckham, and in India there's this big wave of girls playing football. Wow! I can't believe a movie's done this!
For me, soccer was a dance.
If wanted to play a sport, I played a sport. If I wanted to do things that many girls born in 1950 didn't do, I did it.
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.
American sports are quite masculine. And football - although it's still played by men all over the world - football compared to American football is quite feminine in its artistry. And there's no padding. It's America's loss, though.
We played soccer a lot with our friends and at school. We weren't on an official team or anything, but we'd definitely be up for it in gym or in after-school pickup games where we live.
No opposing quotes found.