In a video shown at the end of Monday’s news conference promoting the WE League’s inaugural season, Chairperson Kikuko Okajima and a trio of players with international pedigree kick a ball through glass plates representing barriers facing female players in Japan, with the broken shards set to be repurposed into the league’s championship trophy.
On the nose? Perhaps. But with a name that stands for “Women’s Empowerment,” Japan’s first professional women’s soccer league isn’t subtle about its intent to revolutionize the sport.
“Three years since it was first conceptualized, the WE League now exists thanks to the efforts of everyone who wants to see women’s soccer grow,” Okajima said. “We want to succeed and improve the position of not only women’s soccer, but women’s sports as a whole in Japan.”