It's All About Women's Soccer Today

Today will be different than a lot of other big time sports Sundays .

It's about the women, the ladies, the girls today, as the American women’s World Cup Soccer Team takes the field at 2:45 p.m. EST against Japan in anticipation of goals to be heard around the country, culminating with a USA celebration.

After the win against France earlier this week , a wave of momentum and publicity followed. The “Twitterverse” was flooded with congratulations, stars and athletes from other sports weighing in.

Tweets with #USA and Facebook statuses trended the same way.

Locally, the excitement about the win and a Sunday for women, about women in sports, is epitomized in conversations with soccer experts in the Philadelphia Region. Betsy Bullock, a local soccer pioneer in her own right, coaches the Warrington Soccer Club's under 16 Girls Premiere Soccer Team (and many others). Her enthusiasm for today's game bowls you over like a striker powering a shoot into the twine.

“I'm real excited about this game," Bullock said. "It's so healthy for women to feel competitive. My little ones I also coach were thrilled about the win against Brazil."

Bullock, who started playing before there were high school teams in Pennsylvania, shared that when she was younger she had to go to New Jersey to play and even played on teams with boys. Now, 25 years later, her involvement, passion and love for the game is passed on to the young girls and women she coaches.

“It's expected today for girls to be involved in sports,” she said.

In the United States that might be true, Linda Schoonjans, president of the Warminster Soccer Club, said, but not in other parts of the world. Schoonjans, who played for William Tennent High School, and Gwynned Mercy College, said that international success is due to a slower progression for women living in Europe.

"My family in Italy don't see [women/girls] playing sports as the norm,” Schoonjans said. Thus, more traditional oriented countries are just starting to redefine women’s involvement in sports.

David Halstead, owner and CEO of the Philadelphia Independence, said, “Soccer is the fastest growing sport in the world especially among women." Halstead also said that the U.S. Teams march towards winning the World Cup will bring growth and exposure to the Women's Professional Soccer (WPS) league and young female players.

The Philadelphia Independence is in its second year of existence in the WPS, and have three players on the cup team: backup goalkeeper Nicole Barnhart, midfielder Lori Lindsey, and forward Alex Rodriguez. They will return to the Independence next week as they try to complete another championship run.

A huge audience is expected to watch today, so Bullock and Schoonjans offered some suggestions of what to watch for new fans. Schoonjans said, “Who sets the tone of the game first, which team is proactive and which is reactive.”

Bullock predicted, “The focus on Abby (Wambach) will be so intense... but we have such toughness and tenacity with this team. Watching the big picture as the game progresses will be key."