Jane Haslam Sports Photography

Take us seriously, watch us play

2011-03-15T13:08:00.000-04:00

“The first few minutes were sufficient to show that football by women, if the British Ladies be taken as a criterion, is totally out of the question. A footballer requires speed, judgement, skill, and pluck. Not one of these four qualities was apparent on Saturday. For the most part, the ladies wandered aimlessly over the field at an ungraceful jog-trot."

This is a quote taken from the Daily Sketch in March 1895, following the first recorded women’s soccer game at Crouch End in North London. It's sentiments are just as true today as they were 100 years ago.

Having spent most of my life in the UK I have long held the notion that the USA is the promised land when it comes to gender equality in women's sport. Not only are there professional women's sports teams, college scholarships for female athletes and huge grassroots participation but all this activity is also all backed up by law, through the oft cited Title IX. Undeniably this all makes for a healthy competitive cauldron across a range of sports but having lived here for just over 18 months now I can see that the equality is little more than skin deep and quite possibly the edifice created by Title IX is starting to crumble.

Abbott Tech High School in Danbury CT don't offer girls soccer, but because of Title IX have to allow girls to play in their boys programme if they are deemed to be talented enough. Here's Alisan Sartori (In white) playing for the Varsity team during their State play offs last November. NB. She played for the full game and was a key member of the back line

Women athletes here face just the same problems as their counterparts back in Britain, it's just that they are just dressed up in a slightly different way. Sport plays a massive part in the day to day life of many Americans but the media coverage is dominated by men and male values and unfortunately for them most women's sport just isn't sexy enough to merit any sustained or long term publicity.

All over the country women are dedicating themselves to their chosen sport with little or no attention and even less respect. The 10,00 hour rule for the development of elite performers is just as true for a female athlete as it is a male athlete. It's a sobering thought that most female athletes can only find the time to train by juggling work and family commitments........ don't get me started on the prejudice she has also to face in the light of this juggling act.

I've recently undertaken to photograph the inaugural season of the Northeastern Nitro women's football team based in Danbury CT. This is the real deal and I have nothing but respect for the women who have taken on the commitment to play a sport that is so uniquely American. The players come from a wide geographical area that takes in the surrounding states as well as Connecticut. In the week they have to train alone, or in small groups, the only time the whole squad can get together is at the weekend. Over the course of the 2 days community events, chalk and talks as well as training all have to be fitted in so is it any wonder that one of their training sessions starts on Sunday morning at 6.00am. Don't try to tell me that these women aren't dedicated to their sport.

The thing is this is a story that is undoubtedly shared by women all over the world so the next time you watch that female basketball, soccer, hockey, football team etc just remember what they had to go through just to be able to step out onto that field. All they ask is that you take them seriously and show a little respect.

Thank you for taking the time to read this blog, please check out this link ... In the Game..... a project by Chicago based film maker Maria Finitzo ... It has to be made

It's football, but not as we know it

2011-03-08T13:23:00.000-05:00

Football, american style

After a lifetime playing, coaching and watching football in the

I moved to live in the football free-zone that is the

USA

America

is an incredibly sporty nation but it is their own indigenous games which rule. You know the ones, that generally involve a humungus amount of padding, helmets and time-outs. There is football in

America

but it's as far from the beautiful game as you can imagine. Instead it's a tough game played by tough guys, the ball isn't round, it is rarely kicked and each squad has enough members to populate a small city. When the season's over we get basketball and hockey, the latter played on ice not grass, then in Spring it's Lacrosse, a delightful game which involves hitting your opponent with a stick, and Baseball which is basically rounders but played by grown men in pyjamas.

To find some proper football I have to look for soccer, the American version of the beautiful game. For TV coverage there is the Fox Soccer Channel, but that's a hefty subscription service and also pretty useless. For a brief period during the World Cup in 2010 soccer made mainstream TV and the pundits who normally spend 24/7 arguing about every other sport but soccer suddenly became experts on the game. The

USA

"victory" in the opening game against

England

was analyzed in depth, well more specifically Rob Green's goalkeeping was mercilessly mocked, then suddenly the idea was floated that the

USA

might actually win this tournament. The excitement and the coverage lasted all of 2 weeks till

Ghana

knocked them out of the competition!!

It's not a completely barren playing field though, as over 18 million people play soccer in the US with over 40% of these being female players. Just about every Town has a programme of some sort and the sport flourishes in high School. Last Fall I got the opportunity work at my local High School when I was appointed coach of the girls Varsity team. To be selected for Varsity is a great honor and can have a big influence on an individual's future, to put it simply Varsity is the school's first team which competes against other schools in the State Championship. When I took the job I knew that there would be a few cultural differences but soccer is football... right? I couldn't have been more wrong.

First of all there was the language barrier, American English and English might sound the same and use many of the same words but that's where the similarity quite definitely ends. After rabbiting on to my players about the pitch I spotted their puzzled looks and realized that they thought I was talking about the Pitcher in either baseball or softball. I learnt very quickly, therefore, to call the pitch a field, refer to their kit as uniforms, ask their parents to sit in the bleachers not the stands, check whether they had their cleats with them and set up a washing rota for the pinnies!!

The fields also proved to be a challenge and during our season we played on a wide variety of surfaces and sizes. Our own home field was almost square and would have barely been suitable for grazing sheep back in Derbyshire, but I soon found that it was one of the better grass surfaces. At Dover High School the grass was so long there could easily have been chalky white cliffs hidden in the undergrowth, whilst in Pawling we played on a softball field with one goal area scarred by the location of the pitchers mound, a raised sandy area devoid of any grass whatsoever.

Spot the ball

Then there were the 'turf fields, synthetic 3rd generation astroturf surfaces marked out in a grid iron pattern for football. A football field is 53 yards wide and 100 yards long plus it has two 10 yard end zones at either end. Often the soccer markings started at the back of each end zone which resulted in a longer and narrower pitch than I was used to. Just to confuse me even more the end zones were sometimes a different color to the rest of the field with the school nickname ... Mustangs, Indians, Bears etc ........ painted on the surface.

One really interesting difference though was that two referees were appointed to officiate every game. There were no linesmen and instead each ref was expected to cover one half of the field. This system worked really well and meant that the officials were able to stay in touch with the game no matter where or how quickly the ball was played. On the downside however their interpretation of the Laws of the Game was very creative, rendering the traditional old English tactic of "getting stuck in" totally useless!!! As for any banter with the officials, to put it in the local vernacular... furgeddaboutit!!!!!!!

Having said all this though, the season was incredibly enjoyable and a great learning experience which I hope to go into in future blogs.

Yorktown @ Brewster

Going global at last

2011-02-19T17:51:00.000-05:00

England's young starlet, Jess Clarke

I was recently sat on a train heading out of New York City when my eye was drawn to an advertising poster which showed 4 women jumping for joy in front of a sports stadium….. an advert for this summer’s women’s soccer world cup to be held 4000 miles away in Germany. It's the 6th tournament to be played since the first one in China back in 1991 and off the field it’s shaping up to be the best tournament yet. Ticket sales have been phenomenal with over 450,000 already sold meaning that many of the stadiums will be full to capacity. Then there’s the tv coverage which promises to deliver imagery unparalleled in the history of women’s football - a long way from the days of a lone cameraman with a microphone!!!!! For some games FIFA tells us there will be 18 cameras as well as the provision of spider cams and helicopter cams, let’s just hope that the quality of the imagery is matched by informed pundits who can speak knowledgeably about the game……. Not the Andy Grays and Richard Keys of this world!!!!

Atlanta Beat and USA star Kylie Wright

On the field the competition should be intense and the 11-0 scoreline which opened the last tournament in 2007 should quite definitely be consigned to the past. Each group appears to be nicely balanced and although it has top seeds and favorites the games ought to be closer and more competitive than ever before.

My personal interest lies with England in group B and the USA in group C. Both groups seem to be very finely balanced and I think ripe for a few surprises. In group B I’m sure Mexico will be keen to show that their victory over the USA in qualifying was no fluke, whilst New Zealand with an astute English head coach don’t expect to be in

Germany

just to make up the numbers. It’s

Japan

, though, that I’m really excited about, they are a neat and precise team, well deserving of their 5^th spot in the world rankings. The English will have to be at the top of their game to beat them. In group C the USA lead by Swedish head coach Pia Sundhage will have to overcome Sweden, Korea and Colombia, not an easy group by any stretch of the imagination. Always a powerhouse of women’s football the USA uncharacteristically made hard work of qualification this time around so it will be interesting to see whether that was just a blip on the radar, or a symptom of something more seriously wrong in the American game.

Kelly Smith, the England and Boston striker in action against Spain

Realistically though can anyone seriously see any other outcome other than a German victory in the final? They have dominated European competition since 1989 and have also convincingly won the last two world cups. On home soil, urged on by a home crowd they should be unbeatable. Although I can't finish this blog without acknowledging the pressure that they will be under to deliver to an expectant nation. How they deal with a level of hype and media attention that has so far been unseen in the women’s game could be the deciding factor in the eventual outcome of the tournament.

Whatever happens I for one can’t wait, let the games begin

England's Sophie Bradley in a tussle for the ball with Sarah Hagen of the USA in a U23 international in 2010

What makes soccer a man's game?? !!

2011-01-28T05:51:00.000-05:00

I grew up in late 60's / early 70's Britain when football was king and my dreams were just like any of the other kids who lived on my street. I was going to play professionally for Chesterfield FC and then after leading them to the 3rd Division Championship I would be transferred to the mighty Leeds United where I would go on to win First Division Championships with the best team in Europe.

Unfortunately there was a bit of a problem, some-one neglected to tell me that football is a boys game and girls can't play

Since that time I've wracked my brains to try to figure out just what it is that makes football a man's game:

Perhaps it could be the incredibly complicated objective of the game, defend your own goal and attack your opponents goal, it's simply too much to ask of the delicate female brain!!
But then maybe not, as netball and field hockey both have the same basic premise and neither of these are men's games.

Maybe it's the laws of the game, there are 17 of them after all and it is a well know fact that when it comes to Law XI (the rule of offside) women have no clue whatsoever!!
Then again maybe the men don't fully understand it neither, given the number of disputed decisions and passionate TV and media debates.

I suppose I should also mention the incredibly difficult techniques that have to be mastered in order to play the game, perhaps because these are such difficult movements a woman can never hope to play the game properly!!
However, having said that I have always marveled when you give a toddler of either gender a ball their first instinct is to kick it because this is the easiest way to make it move. There's also the simple fact that playing with a ball is an incredibly fun thing to do, you just have to watch their faces. I would dare to suggest that anyone who plays the game never grows out of this.

Basically in any sensible world there is no rational reason to continue to accept the notion that football is a man's game. Instead we should think of it as the People's game, fun to play, absorbing to watch and suitable for all. Then when our children dream of their future we should encourage them to be whatever they want to be and if that means a young girl on a suburban street wants to be a professional footballer then so be it......

Dare her to dream, encourage her to practice and give her every opportunity to succeed.

Thank you for reading and perhaps you'll come back again soon, better still I hope you'll be interested enough leave me your comments and opinions

Take care, till next time

Just a kick in the grass, or on the turf

2010-11-22T18:14:00.000-05:00

When I worked in football we used to debate long and passionately about qualities that go into making a player special. Now that I'm a photographer I guess the question is how do I use this knowledge to portray the game that I love.

For me it's always been about high quality technique with an ability to perform at pace as well as under pressure. The player must also be able to perform in motion and I just love to see great balance.

With this in mind therefore, why not take a look at a few photos from this weekend when I covered the the New York State high school boys varsity soccer championships. See what you think then why not leave me a comment

New York State X Country Championships

2010-11-16T17:57:00.000-05:00

Runners reflections, Lakeside Park, Pawling New York

A first for me at the weekend with a chance to photograph the New York State High School Cross Country championships taking place at Lakeside Park in Pawling.

I was working for Max Preps but able to take full advantage of what is a lovely venue.It was a beautiful day throughout, not a cloud in the sky as well as a tranquil, reflective lake. The low, bright sunshine can prove to be a challenge for a photographer but here are a few of my favorite images why dont you take a lookand see what you think.

Women's Soccer - The cover

2010-05-12T15:07:00.000-04:00

I received a draft copy of the cover of my book today, so although there are still quite a few months to go before it actually hits the shelves I thought it would be nice to post a quick blog for all to see it.

I've also been hard at work updating my website and trying to get it into some sort of navigable form so that I can set about marketing my talents properly. There's still a bit of work to do but I'm getting there - I'm using my sundialphotographic domain name as a subsite linked to my main website. This will then become a vehicle to promote my sports photography and writing.

Please click here to check it out and let me have your feedback.

Anyway that's about it for today, enjoy the rest of the week and hope the weekend is filled with fun and laughter

Jane xx

Women's soccer - a Guide to coaching and training

2010-04-23T10:31:00.000-04:00

Easter proved to be a momentous weekend for me this year. I managed to submit my completed manuscript and illustrations to the Crowood Press in time to meet my deadline and the book is now in full production. It's planned for distribution in the USA and Canada as well as the UK so watch this space for further updates. Exciting times.

I am indebted to the help and support from Linby Ladies who's players and coaches gave up their time to "pose" for me and I've placed a few of the phots in this blog as a taster of what is to come.

Behind every successful womens soccer club there is always a small number of extremely dedicated people who's life is totally dominated by their work behind the scenes. At Linby the driving force has been Andrew and Carol Eastwood who it has been my privelage to know since the club's early days back in 1997. I hope that the book, when it is published, will provide a nice platform to help them to promote the Club even more

Finally through the medium of this blog I send my best wishes to the family and friends of John Betteridge, the Under 12's coach at Linby who sadly passed away on the 21st April 2010. He was a lovely guy who loved his coaching and had a brilliant rapport with his players.

On the road to Germany, via London!

2010-04-06T19:44:00.000-04:00

I was able to take a trip back to England over Easter and whilst I was there caught up with the England women’s world cup campaign. They had two home games in the space of seven days and with only five European countries able to qualify for the finals this time around the pressure was well and truly on.

First up were Austria at Queens Park Rangers FC, a wet and soggy night but a performance which promised much for the future. Not only was it a young starting line up but the second half introduction of teenage debutants Ellen White and Claire Rafferty added a new dimension to England’s attacking play.

In the end a first half goal from Lianne Sanderson and two in the second half from Eni Aluko and Ellen White sealed a comfortable victory. One week later and the venue was Millwall FC for a much tougher game against the group leaders, Spain. Nothing less than a win would do for England if they were to remain as contenders to win the group.

With Kelly Smith declared fit to play and Rachel Brown in goal The England line up had a more settled feel to it. England started the stronger of the two teams with Jess Clarke's tricky flank play threatening to unlock the Spaniards whilst Katie Chapman dominated in the midfield with a powerful display. It came as no surprise when she latched on to a loose ball on the edge of the box and volleyed it home for what turned out to be the winning goal,

The second half saw a more determined Spanish performance as they pressed for an equaliser, but the England defence held firm refusing to be broken down.

In the end it was another victory and maximum points from both games. This puts England level with Spain at the top of the table but with a game in hand. There are still four games to play, three of them away, but at this stage of the campaign Hope must be feeling very pleased with her team's efforts.

As a footnote:

I must admit I was choked when Ellen ran past me to celebrate her goal. I had the pleasure of working with her when she was an under 17. She was great to coach and deserves the success that she's having this season. I'm sure the photos show how pleased she was too!!