With the Ottawa Sport Council’s Inaugural Sport Summit quickly approaching, we are getting very excited for all of our special guests and presenters. One of our guest speakers will be Valerie Hughes, Ottawa General Manager, FIFA Women’s World Cup Canada 2015.
Soccer has always been a very popular sport- dominating the world stage and has been steadily growing in North America over the past decade. What is just as exciting is that WOMEN’S soccer is growing as fast as their popular male counterparts. With a fierce competitiveness and skill set, women’s soccer- especially the upcoming FIFA Women’s World Cup Canada 2015, is set to be an incredible tournament that you won’t want to miss!
Canada is set to host the 2015 tournament, with six chosen cities across the country. Vancouver, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Ottawa, Montreal and Moncton will all play host to this exciting event. The tournament is set to start June 6, 2015, with the championship game being played on July 5, 2015. Canada is a proven hosting nation for major international sporting events, having hosted the successful FIFA U-19 Women’s World Championship in 2002 and the FIFA U-20 World Cup in 2007.
Currently, there is some controversy around the upcoming FIFA Women’s World Cup 2015 tournament. The games are set to be played on turf (a synthetic grass material) as opposed to actual grass. A group of the world’s top women’s players filed a lawsuit earlier this month against FIFA and the Canadian Soccer Association for their plans to use artificial turf during the tournament. The lawsuit claims the use of artificial turf is gender discrimination, as every men’s World Cup since 1930 has been played on grass. The players say turf is more dangerous and causes injuries far worse than those that occur on grass fields.
Regardless of legal outcome, the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2015 is going to be a very successful event, drawing crowds of soccer fans from around the globe- all in celebration of this fantastic sport. You can hear more about it at the upcoming Ottawa Sport Summit on November 1 at Ben Franklin Place, 101 Centrepointe Drive, Ottawa.