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REMARKS BY:	U.S. SECRETARY OF HEALTH & HUMAN SERVICES, DONNA E. SHALALA
PLACE: 		WORLD SYMPOSIUM ON WOMEN'S SOCCER, Los Angeles, California
DATE: 		JULY 7, 1999

I know I speak on behalf of both President Clinton and Vice President Gore when I tell you how proud I am to welcome you to the United States for the second annual World Symposium on Women's Soccer.

It doesn't seem all that long ago that people used to talk about how women's soccer had about as much chance catching on in this country as ice hockey does in Jamaica.

Well, I was thinking about that last week when I opened up the sports section of the Washington Post. Because there, on the front page, was a story saying the demand for Women's World Cup tickets was so intense that thousands -- not hundreds -- of new seats were going to have to be opened up at Jack Kent Cooke Stadium.

I thought about that, and it occurred to me that: I don't know how ice hockey's doing in Jamaica, but women's soccer is in the USA to stay!

This year's Women's World Cup is a milestone not just for women's soccer -- but for all of women's sports. For the first time in sports history a women's sporting event is being viewed as a major international event - and that's changing the lives of little girls and women forever.

From the favellas of Brazil to the villages of Nigeria to the back streets of Boston - the lives and hopes of young women everywhere are being expanded and transformed by new heroes -- heroes with names like Linda Medalen, Charmaine Hooper and Antonella Carta.

I know that after the U.S. win over Denmark at Giant's Stadium on the opening day of the World Cup -- young women from Brooklyn to Stockholm went to sleep with their soccer balls, humming: "Anything You Can Do I Can Do Better."

And it wasn't visions of sugarplums and ribbons they dreamed about. Their heads were filled with real life role models who are confident, strong and female. From Sao Paulo to Munich to Abuja to Washington D.C. - soccer is giving young girls new confidence and skills that they might never have found.

This was a sport that was never even considered a women's sport until recently. And now, thanks to the extraordinary talent of players like Michelle Akers, Hege Riise and Sissi - the world is catching on to the power of women's sports.

This is the first time ever that any women's sporting event has attracted more than 500,000 fans. And that's not even including the more than one billion who'll be watching on television.

But, as impressive as those numbers are, what makes this Women's World Cup so important isn't just the huge crowds it draws -- or even the incredible excitement it's generating. It's something more than that.

It's the hope it inspires and the dreams it nurtures. Because while today's newspapers may be full of stories about soccer stars named Hamm and Pettersen and Hong and Akhide there are literally millions of other players around the world whose names will probably never make it into the sports section, but who are proving themselves to be champions in their own right.

They're girls like Maria. Now, chances are no one here knows Maria. She's a 14 year-old girl whose family moved to South Central Los Angeles from Guatemala several years ago. At the time, Maria's parents hoped they were escaping a world of violence and poverty. But when they moved to the city they came face to face with a whole new set of dangers. The threat of drugs. The threat of gangs. The threat that their daughter would be drawn into a part of society where crime and violence are often glorified. But thanks to girls' soccer, Maria found a way to meet these challenges.and she overcame them. While many girls seek artificial self-esteem in the world of gangs and drugs, Maria and her teammates found the real thing on the playing field. It's a place where she's learned about perseverance and hard work. Both Maria and her parents know that she's using those lessons not only when she steps into her cleats and heads to the soccer field, but when she grabs her books and heads to school. In fact, Maria's even joined the Navy's ROTC program at her high school.

Ask Maria and I think she'll tell you that it's great to win. But she and her teammates will also tell you it's less about competition than about fun, friendship, teamwork and having the chance to participate.

Teamwork. That's a vital lesson for everyone and it's the only way that our world will find peace and prosperity in the new millenium. Soccer is not the sport of kings and queens. It's the sport of young girls in Beijing in Brasilia and Oslo. It's a sport that transcends boundaries of country, race, language and income.

And, in some ways, that's the miracle of soccer.

Soccer means community. It means a common arena of good will and honor. Today we're celebrating a community of 16 nations -- the community of players, families, administrators, referees and many others. Together, we form a unique resource. It is a resource that's important to public health. And it is a resource that is vitally important to the emotional and physical health of girls.

Because, young women today are in a state of crisis. Here in the United States, for example, researchers are finding alarming rates of depression and eating disorders among young girls -- some as young as ten years old And, as they grow up, so does the risk that many of these young women will lose self-confidence and fall victim to substance abuse. If that wasn't enough - like girls around the world -- they have also been shamelessly targeted by the tobacco industry to become its next generation of customers.

Let me just share a statistic with you: 200 to 300 million of the world's children -- boys and girls - are going to die as a result of tobacco use. The vast majority won't develop their tobacco habit when they're adults . . . they'll get hooked when they're in their teens.

Consider this: three-fourths of smokers in Latin America today started lighting up between the ages of 14 and 17 -- and multinational tobacco companies are targeting women and children in developing countries.

Now, is girls' soccer the entire solution? No. But it can be part of it.

Two Sunday's ago when Tisha Venturini of the U.S. Women's team scored a goal against North Korea she was so excited she began doing back-flips. Just like Tisha's tumbling, I believe sports can help turn these numbers on their head. I believe that young people are transformed and become strong on the inside as well as the outside when they play sports.

In the U.S., for example, we already know that teenage girls who participate in sports are much more likely to complete high school . . . to avoid an unwanted pregnancy . . . and to stay away from drugs. And, of course, they're less likely to smoke cigarettes.

Because sports can be such a powerful factor in the lives of young girls, I'm especially proud of the Girl Power! program my Department started in 1996. This innovative campaign is helping young girls say "no" to risky behaviors and helping them build the skills they need to overcome the challenges they'll face in all parts of their lives.

I'm also proud of the partnership my Department has forged with members of the U.S. Women's team through our "Smoke-Free Kids & Soccer" campaign. Launched in 1996, "Smoke-Free Kids" promotes soccer as a way to encourage physical activity, enhance self-esteem and discourage smoking among adolescent girls. It recognizes that participation in sports -- like avoiding cigarettes -- is something to be learned when young.

U.S. Women's Soccer team members regularly volunteer their time to talk with children, make public appearances and give media interviews on healthy, smoke-free lifestyles. And the entire U.S. team has pledged to be smoke-free -- maybe that's the reason they're doing so well. I think Julie Foudy, one of the team's co-captains put it best when she said, "Soccer players would rather smoke a defender than a cigarette."

Because, while women like Kristine Lilly, Joy Fawcett and Shannon MacMillan are making sports history - they also understand that good health is vital to their games - as well as to all parts of their lives. Now, public service is nothing new to professional athletes. But the commitment of the U.S. Women's team to spreading the word about the dangers of tobacco has been extraordinary. And, I'm convinced that with a little leadership, we could transform their efforts into a commonplace occurrence in all professional sports.

I think of it as a new social contract between sports and society. A new recognition that says professional sports have a responsibility to not just the shareholders, but to its stakeholders: young people who look to athletes as more than role models - they see them as heroes.

That's part of why I was looking forward to being here today, because I'd like to invite all of you to join in this new social contract between sports and society. And, I think that begins by making soccer smoke- free.

Gro Brundtland, the Director-General of the World Health Organization, points out: "our main battlefield on children and tobacco is in that strange, exhilarating and often confusing landscape called adolescence. We must enter the discotheques, the schools and the sports arenas and win these spaces back."

We can start winning them back today. Just imagine. Wouldn't it be exciting if as a result of this symposium, each of your football federations would commit to work with FIFA to develop a smoke-free soccer program?It wouldn't be hard. Through advertising and appearances at schools, players could highlight the importance of maintaining a smoke-free, healthy lifestyle to achieving success both on and off the playing field.

Wouldn't it be exciting if we could announce a FIFA health partnership at the start of the Women's Soccer competition in Sydney next year? Wouldn't it be exciting if our efforts were broadened to include the next Men's World Cup in 2002?

Wouldn't it be exciting that because of our commitment today, the tide of tobacco related disease was turned back thanks to the footwork of top players like Steffi Jones and Carla Overbeck? We can make all of this a reality. But how should we begin?

FIFA has already taken the lead by supporting our Girl Power and our Smoke-Free Kids Campaigns at this year's Women's World Cup - and I thank you for your efforts. Due to your leadership, we're reaching more young women than ever before to let them know that healthy lifestyles begin with physical fitness.

FIFA has also called upon each of the 16 teams, coaches and officials to stay smoke-free during matches. And, it recruited the help of the official mascot, "Nutmeg" to strengthen the smoke-free message near the Women's World Cup stadiums.

Now we need the support of each and every one of your national soccer federations. We stand ready to help. Come work with us, with FIFA, with the children of your countries. Together we can make soccer an example of what a smoke-free and healthy lifestyle is all about - a lifestyle based upon the very pillars of sports: team-work, honor, strength and physical fitness. Let us resolve today to make smoking history and to make soccer the unifying force of a truly international health movement.

As an adult, my sport is tennis. But for thismillions of fans in the United States and throughout the world who echo with pride the motto:

"This is my game . watch me play."

Thank you.