Brokering Playing Fields: Latinos and La Liga de Fútbol in Raleigh, NC

Abstract

The 2000 US Census confirmed that North Carolina has been the recipient of a rapid increase in Latino residents since 1990. The explosion in Latino migrants (primarily from Mexico, El Salvador and Honduras) has been so sudden and rapid that many communities have not been able to respond fast enough to handle the needs and special problems presented by this new, young, ethnic population. Local institutions such as police departments, courts, schools, and medical clinics have had to hire bilingual police, find translators for courts, and to train English as a Second Language (ESL)-certified teachers. Much already has been written about these issues and problems in other areas of the United States. However, one issue that has been rarely mentioned and researched is how Latinos and US Americans accommodate regarding access to sports activities and facilities. This paper addresses my role as an applied anthropologist working to assist Latinx soccer players, mostly from Central America and Mexico, acquire access to soccer fields in Raleigh, NC in the first years of this century when I was the President of La Liga de Raleigh, and the only non-Latinx person in leadership, that brought together about 50+ teams.