Immigrants at Home With Imported Sport
In countries beyond our borders, the word futbol is not a misspelling of a beloved American pastime. In fact, when mentioned, it is in a language or accent other than our own and refers to a game that leaves most U. S. residents cold.
The United States may be a nation that loves sports, but on the list of favorites does not seem to be futbol , or soccer. Even with the full weight of advertising dollars and prime-time coverage behind it, sports fans and sportswriters in this country never got overly excited about World Cup coverage. Let us not forget that the World Cup was an event lassoed and dragged to the United States in the face of vigorous opposition by real soccer-playing countries, which feared that sending the world’s most popular sport here was like staging Puccini’s Tosca for an audience expecting Beavis and Butt-head.
In spite of generalized indifference to futbol , it is thriving in many parts of this nation thanks to the dedication of immigrants who bring their love of the game with them.
In this county, there are 200 recreational soccer teams made up of 4,500 players sanctioned by the California Soccer Assn. Most players, it turns out, are foreign-born, largely from Mexico. This is a fact that was of great interest to staff writer Pancho Doll, who wrote this week’s Centerpiece story. He originally stumbled upon this story not by kicking a soccer ball around, but, instead, by hitting the books.
“I got on this story because of something I read in the 1990 census,” he said. “The report said that Hispanic males between the ages of 18 and 44 outnumber Hispanic women in Ventura County by 8,350. I figured there must be some result of the gender disparity, so I started hanging out at soccer fields and talking to the players. That’s where I learned that many of them were pals from Mexico. I decided that the better story was to write about soccer and its role in immigrant society.”
Doll discovered that soccer is more than just a sport in Mexico, it is at the center of life. He also found that when players come to this country, neither their camaraderie nor their competitiveness diminishes.
“I spent some time in Spain and Venezuela where futbol is the sport, but what I like about the recreational leagues here is that, although the standard of play may not be the highest, spectators can be right there on the bench when the play comes down the sidelines.”
Since Doll spent a number of weeks with local soccer players, did he manage to get drafted to a team?
“The bench is a familiar place for me,” Doll said. “When I was younger, I played soccer and I played it very badly. After an undistinguished prep career, my highest achievement came in the Navy, where I was the last man to be cut from the team. After three weeks of practice, the last spot was between me and one other guy. In the final scrimmage before the season started, the other guy accidentally scored a goal for the opposing side. But I was so awful that the coach gave him the spot.”
