How to Bring the World’s Game—Fútbol—to Your Area!

Share On Social!

Fútbol (soccer) is played by 250 million people in more than 200 countries.

The sport has many benefits, including its simplicity for beginners and complex strategies for veteran players, aerobic physical activity that lowers body fat and builds endurance from shifts in walking, running and sprinting, and social and leadership skill development.

BUT…many U.S. Latinos and others miss out on fútbol because soccer fields tend to be limited to middle-class suburban neighborhoods and pay-to-play soccer clubs, experts say.

Here’s some ways to bring soccer closer to home:

Building Soccer Fields for All

Soccer enthusiasts Shawn Levy and Ricki Ruiz, dismayed by the lack of safe, affordable physical activity opportunities in their part of Oregon, led innovative campaigns to help fix and build new soccer fields and futsal courts in disadvantaged areas, with the help of the Portland Timbers pro soccer team and fans.

Fixing U.S. Soccer’s Diversity Problem

Doug Andreassen, the chairman of U.S. Soccer’s diversity task force, says the pay-to-play system in suburban neighborhoods works against low-income minority kids. Andreassen and his task force drafted a proposal to create a national leadership academy to teach underground leagues about fundraising, tax filings, and field rental.

Renovating a Park

In the past 10 years, the girls’ soccer team at Thomas Kelly High School—in Southwest Chicago’s 83% Latino Brighton Park Neighborhood—has been one of the city’s winningest teams. But they didn’t even have their own field to practice or play on. A local neighborhood group started a campaign to renovate nearby Kelly Park to build a safe, accessible soccer/football field.

Listen to the ‘Sound of Gol’

The Sound of Gol Foundation and its founder George Valencia is a global nonprofit that supports youth development through soccer. They produced an animated video series, La Golda, featuring an 8-year-old Latina orphan who uses soccer to raise awareness of social and environmental issues and engage kids in giving back to their communities.

What can you do to create more opportunities for soccer where you’re at?

Email us and let us know!