Japan's Yamashita Yoshimi Making History at World Cup in Qatar.
I'm not a soccer fan, but the World Cup is big news in Japan, so I can't help reading about it. The biggest news for me is that female referees are officiating men's games for the first time at the FIFA World Cup in Qatar, and one of them is 36-year old Tokyo native, Yamashita Yoshimi.
Yamashita played soccer when she was younger and changed to officiating the game at the suggestion of referee and fellow Tokyo Gakugei University alum Bozono Makoto. Yamashita has served as head referee at international women's soccer tournaments and all-male competitions in Japan, including the national high school championships. In 2021, she became the first female referee in the J. League. She and other female referees are showing they are physically capable of maintaining the high physical levels required for professional men's games and as well as being able to handle players who question her calls. Yamashita trains under the guidance of a former track and field athlete and is able to deal calmly with players. Her example is giving courage to women in soccer as well as other sports where referees tend to be men exclusively. She is a great role model for women everywhere and she is making Japan proud.
5 comments:
Good for her! Also nice that it is happening in Qatar, where women's participation in any activity is controlled by men.
See, that's the kind of news about the world cup I appreciate. Not really interested in the sports side of things this year, especially with all the controversy around the host country, but this is great!
Yes it is good to see women refereeing especially as Vireya says in Qatar. xx
Like dripping water on a stone can in time create a hole, I hope women can eventually be accepted in all walks of life. Now that women's soccer is getting more and more popular, we need women referees, too, and it is cool if they can also judge men's matches.
What a wonderful role model she is.
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