With Sunday's preliminary draw for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, once again soccer grabbed a brief headline in a haze of Red Sox triumph, Bruins' mediocrity, Patriots' dominance, and Celtic optimism.
Can 11 guys in tight shorts and an Englishman who sports a bleached blonde buzzcut and sarong represent the future of America and, more specifically, American sport? You bet they can, and we should all be happy about it. Soccer, with its egalitarian ethos, accessibility, and its own rainbow coalition of players is the future of America.
David Beckham has just completed his first season in Major League Soccer, and while he did increase the media spotlight on the sport stateside, it was not for his trademark crosses, wins (there were few) or losses (there were many). Despite the fanfare that surrounded this season's debut, sportswriters and radio pundits continue to assert that soccer, which enjoys immense popularity in Europe, Latin America, and Africa, is "un American.'' Tom Weir, a sportswriter for USA Today, once said that hating soccer was more American than apple pie.
In America, the world's most sports-obsessed nation, soccer has always lagged far behind basketball, football, baseball, and hockey. However, when we look at why Americans love sports, it is clear that soccer actually upholds far more American values than football, basketball, or even baseball -- which has long enjoyed the status as the quintessential American sport.
While many criticize soccer as elitist -- pointing to its European heritage and its popularity among latte sipping, Volvo driving, wealthy soccer moms -- soccer is actually the most accessible sport for working and middle class American families. At a time when football and basketball, even at the collegiate level, are dominated by corporate sponsorship, premium seats, and season ticket prices of over $5,000, tickets to Major League soccer games range from $10 to $50. Season tickets can be had for a few hundred dollars.
American children dream of being professional athletes. However, your average little league aspirant or Pop Warner football player will never interact with Big Papi or Tom Brady. For an American kid who aspires to someday bend it like Beckham, however, accessibility to top Major League soccer players is a not a dream, it's a reality.
Beginning this season, all MLS teams began establishing youth academies, an outgrowth of their own grassroots and fan development programs. New soccer specific stadiums have opened in Dallas, Chicago, Toronto and Denver in the past three years while construction is ongoing in New Jersey, Salt Lake City, and slated for Washington, D.C. These small, close knit venues are tied into youth academies which serve to develop future soccer talent. For example, the Chicago Fire will fund a free academy for kids aged 15-18 at a cost of $500,000 per year. Nothing of the sort exists for the aspiring basketball or baseball player.
These days, athletes are notorious for their greed and crass commercialism, soccer players are the only remaining professional athletes who play for the love of the game instead of the pursuit of material wealth. Though there are some exceptions, and Becks is certainly one of them, salaries range from $13,000 to $400,000 per year, under a league wide salary cap. MLS players regularly donate their time with free appearances, clinics or at charity events and happily provide autographs after games.
In a time where basketball, baseball, football, and even cycling have been tarnished by doping scandals, drug abuse, and violence, soccer (in the US at least) has remained free of such scandals. Even Posh and Becks, despite their superstar status, have been married for almost a decade and have, by Hollywood standards at least, squeaky clean reputations -- no DUIs, racist tirades, animal or spousal abuse, drug scandals or jail time.
Refreshing, isn't it?
Finally, in post 9/11 world, soccer embodies many of the positive features of globalization. At a time when many among us are seeking to close our borders, soccer naturally fosters communication among rivals. It is also the last bastion of the American Dream. MLS coaches hail from around the globe - Uruguay, Brazil, Germany, Scotland, Northern Ireland, Colombia, and Serbia. This year the influx of foreign talent was impressive, with top newcomers arriving from Colombia, Brazil, and even Cuba (yes, he defected). Two of the league's brightest young prospects, Jozy Altidore and Maurice Edu, are the sons of Haitian and Nigerian immigrants, respectively.
You may have never headed a ball in your life, but surely you can get your head around what Beckham represents. Soccer may be foreign, but it is anything but un-American.
Zine Magubane is a professor of Sociology and African Studies at Boston College. Her husband Patrick McCabe is Managing Director of First Wave Sports Marketing, which specializes in the management of professional soccer players in the United States and Europe.
