Women In Soccer and Self-Esteem

Background and Purpose: The passage of Title IX in 1972 marked a critical turning point for women’s participation in athletics in the United States. Since then, girls and women have had greater access to the numerous psychological benefits associated with sport participation, including reductions in anxiety and depression and improvements in self-esteem. While self-esteem has been widely examined in quantitative research, there is limited qualitative work exploring how participation in sport, particularly soccer, shapes self-esteem among women. Social workers are uniquely positioned to work with athletes and within athletic contexts given their ability to critically examine the person-in-environment, advocate across systems, and provide insight into how athletic participation may influence individuals across the life course. This study aims to address the gap in the literature by examining the processes through which soccer participation at various life stages may enhance or undermine women’s self-esteem.

Methods: This qualitative study draws on in-depth, semi-structured interviews with a purposive sample of 17 female soccer players aged 25-39. Data were analyzed using thematic cross-case analysis to identify patterns across participants. Sensitizing concepts informed the initial coding framework, followed by inductive thematic analysis to allow themes to emerge from the data. Negative case analysis was employed throughout to refine themes and account for divergent experiences.

Results: Several themes emerged that illuminate the complex ways soccer participation relates to fluctuations in self-esteem. Processes related to enhanced self-esteem included a strong passion for the sport from an early age, the transferability of skills and lessons learned in soccer to other life domains, participants’ interpretations of soccer as therapeutic or emotionally restorative, and positive perceptions of athletic body image. Conversely, factors associated with diminished self-esteem included heightened self-criticism of performance, negative experiences with male coaches, and being benched. Some themes demonstrated variability across participants. In particular, the extent to which individuals identified with their athletic identity produced differing implications for self-esteem, as did experiences with team social dynamics, which ranged from highly supportive to exclusionary environments. Additionally, the goalkeeper position emerged as a distinct role, with participants describing unique pressures and experiences that shaped self-esteem in ways that often differed from field players.

Conclusions: Findings highlight that soccer participation is not uniformly beneficial for women’s self-esteem but operates through multiple, context-dependent processes. These results have important implications for sport-based positive youth development initiatives, suggesting that intentional efforts such as fostering supportive team environments and positive coaching practices are critical for maximizing psychological benefits, particularly for girls. Enhancing self-esteem through sport during childhood and adolescence may have lasting impacts that extend into adulthood. Overall, participants overwhelmingly described soccer as contributing positively to their mental health, particularly in relation to self-esteem and self-image.