The University of New Mexico soccer player, Elizabeth Lambert was recently suspended indefinately for her actions in a match on November 5th. New Mexico was playing BYU in the Mountain West Conference semifinal when the incident accured. Several videos and images have been released of Lambert throwing punches, pulling a girl down by her ponytail, and making aggressive tackels. During the game she was only issued a yellow card for a tackel from behind. But upon reviewing the tapes Lambert was suspended from the team indefinately by her coach. She has also made several public apologies for her actions. As a female soccer player, when I first saw these tapes I was awestruck. I immediateltly wondered what had lead her to react so violently and was sickend by her actions. However once I read her statement to the press and saw all the footage, which included many cheap shots to Lambert by the other team, I felt sorry for Lambert. She not only has been suspended but has received a great amount of negative media and even threats from various viewers. I feel her suspension is warrented but the negative media coverage and threats are far from neccessary. I have to ask if she was a male soccer player would she receive the same treatment? I highly doubt that she would. Men break out in fights on the soccer field all the time. Yes, they get a card and sit out a game but that is about the end of it. Just because Lambert is a female does not mean she should be punished above and beyond how a male would be punished. Women athletes are aggressive and, just like male athletes, they can sometimes lose their temper. In a contact sport and during a competitive game, it is not all that shocking to me that Lambert lost her head. Especially when you review the tape and see all the elbows she took. Does she deserve to be suspended? Yes, this type of deviance is unacceptable in sport. But I just simply ask that she be judged as an athlete rather than a female athlete. She should be held to the same standard as a male soccer player and not penalized for her sex.
Check out the video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2LPIUI_CY44
And her response http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/18/sports/soccer/18soccer.html?_r=1
K. Raby
KIN 332I
Section 3017
1 comment:
This story about the University of Mexico soccer player is one of the sport stories of 2009 that really interested me. One because I played soccer for 20 plus years and received many punishing fouls against me some that were so severe that my injuries required surgery at I missed 6 months of play while recovering. Never once did I retaliate against another player as Ms Lambert did during the match which caused her suspension from the team. The other shocking thing is that it was a female athlete who was displaying rouges behavior on the field. Society doesn’t normally see female athletes showing such horrible sportsmanship during competitions. I watched the video over and over and was amazed at how flagrant the fouls were and asked myself how the referees did not see what was going during that game. I agree that her suspension is warranted and if she is ever let back on the team, I would hope that she will be able to control her temper and not be a part of the deviance that surrounds sports in society. I believe that women athletes are held to different standards than male athletes and it is not fair but it is the reality of the society that we all live in. Ms. Lambert will have the opportunity to repair her image but it will be a slow process.
Stacy O'Mary
KIN 332I
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