“Privilege” has become one of the words ruined by politics and those who understand that tearing apart words is how you destroy communication between well-meaning people.
I’m going to show gratitude for the privileges that soccer has allowed me.
My first experience outside the white, suberban soccer fields of Pennsylvania was in an ethnic league on a team of Italians. A Venezuelan kid my dad knew had been recruited and he brought me along.
High school was wrapping up and I was more interested (somewhat by necessity) in working weeknights than devoting all my productive hours to the school team.
These guys were recent immigrants and older than me. They welcomed me into their homes and snuck me into bars after games. It was exciting to dive into a different culture and get my first taste of how immigrants preserve their culture in a new land.
After a few seasons I returned to white, suburban club teams, but there was greater diversity than in school and I got to play with Turks, Irish, Swiss, and other ethnicities.
Maybe the most fun I ever had was working in a Japanese/Thai restaurant. Between shifts, the South American and Thai/Indonesian/Japanese employees would face off for parking lot soccer. I was designated Asian or Hispanic depending on which team was short a player on any given day. We laughed so much during those matches and the long days of work were worth it for that camaraderie.
Playing and managing adult teams into my 30s I played with innumerable nationalities. Learning new cultures and different styles of play and communication have become integral skills in my ability to build strong teams.
Now I’m in my 40s and struggling to find places to play without arcane and counter-productive Lockdown rules. Because of relationships I’ve fostered and an eagerness to support a diverse soccer community, I’ve been invited into a Hispanic culture that is independent of many of the restrictions imposed by the ruling classes.
There is privilege in being marginalized and there are always advantages to be had when the dominant culture doesn’t want much to do with you.