EVERY women’s World Cup has had its share of stories and the 2023 edition didn’t disappoint as there was no shortage of narrations of the triumph of woman spirit over trials and tribulations.
Let’s begin with New Zealand’s Rebekah Stott’s incredible comeback as written by Jason Pine of the New Zealand Herald in February of 2022: “Less than 12 months after being diagnosed with Stage 3 Hodgkin’s lymphoma—a form of blood cancer—veteran Football Ferns defender Rebekah Stott has earned a recall for New Zealand’s upcoming internationals against Iceland, USA and the Czech Republic.
“I’d go for a walk around the block and my heart rate would be at 160 and I’d be pretty tired. Going from being an athlete to hardly being able to walk around the block was pretty hard. After I finished treatment the next three months were hard mentally but I just had to be patient.
“I wouldn’t say I’m back to 100 percent yet. I’m in a space where I can play 90 minutes, but I definitely still have a long way to go to get to where I was and be better than I was when I started this journey. But I’m definitely in a good spot at the moment and it’s just a matter of building up my conditioning and my strength.”
Another amazing story is that of Jamaica’s fundraising efforts because of the lack of support from the team’s federation: “The story of Jamaica’s success in the World Cup started well before they knocked the legendary Brazilian team out of the tournament last week, making it to the round of 16 for the first time ever.
“The team have been struggling with underfunding and a lack of support in their country for decades. Due to inadequate financial support from their federation, the team had to resort to crowdfunding through a GoFundMe and other fundraising efforts to get them to the tournament.”
Their story reminds me of another Jamaican team, the Jamaican bobsleigh squad that first competed in the Winter Olympics in Calgary in 1988—but that’s another story.
We quickly go to Colombia’s Linda Caicedo and for her story we go to the August 7, 2023 article: “All the best stories missed from the Women’s World Cup” written by Nina Miyashita for Vogue.
“Linda Caicedo, the exceptionally talented 18-year-old player for Columbia, was diagnosed with ovarian cancer when she was just 15 years old. Her promising career as a star footballer was put on hold while received treatment, but she’s made an incredible comeback in the past two years. The winning goal in Colombia’s opening game against South Korea, and the follow-up game against Germany were both delivered by Caicedo, ensuring her team were given their deserving spot in the round of 16.”
To come back from such a debilitating disease at such a young age shows how advanced Caicedo is beyond her years. I think it shows tremendous maturity and she’s got her whole career ahead of her with her best football yet to be played.
Other stories were South Africa and Morocco making history with South Africa for its first World Cup win and making it to the knockout stage for the first time in its history and Morocco being the first Northern African and majority Arab nation to qualify for the World Cup.
Last but not the least: “Defender Nouhaila Benzina is also the first player in the history of the World Cup to wear a hijab while playing, marking an incredible step forward in the diversity and inclusivity of international women’s sport,” according to vogue.com.au.
These stories are one of the countless reasons why I love sports.