Description:
In Latin America soccer is a game of passion. In the United States it goes by the name of soccer, but in Latin America it is known as futbol. Futbol is taken to heart and is far from just being a game. It is also a sport in which Latin Americans excels in. Massive numbers of Latin Americans people participate in soccer teams, tournaments, leagues, and clubs. Futbol is also singular feature of the Latina/o, Chicana/o popular culture. Latina/o 's across the world and all walks of life have extended and intertwined a unique national culture through futbol. “They infuse a particular flavor of soccer unique to their cultures and a deep passion for the game… Major League Soccer and all of the great clubs …show more content…
In general, sports, have a distinctive place in society as well as the formation of social identity. Soccer is in the blood of Latina/o’s, it coincides and identifies Latina/o’s popular culture. It is a sport played with passion and extremely popular among Latina/o’s communities stretching deep from within the homeland to all across the Americas. Soccer is not just a sport one plays, it also serves a primary role in the Hispanic community. Primarily the most dominant played sport in Mexico and other Latin communities. From the time Latina/o 's are young, we grow up not only watching futbol, but also living and playing futbol. There is a strong sense of pride and pleasure that takes place in participating, rooting, as well as supporting ones own local or national team. “To love futbol, then, is essentially to take part in what it means to be, or not to be, culturally “Latino/a” in the Americas”. (Shinn, pg …show more content…
(Parker, pg.9) Soccer, football, or futbol roots have long been linked as well as appealed to immigrant communities in the United States. For example, in the MLS, one team- Chivas USA was produced to appeal specifically towards the Mexican-American population of Southern California. “Local teams in the United States often take the name of futbol clubs in distant homelands: teams in the Liga de futbol de Pasco, for example, assume names such as “San Jose,” “Guadalajara,” and “Mexico,” to reinforce important symbolic equivalances. The Guadalajara Chivas are so named after the Mexican First Division team, and the Pasco jerseys bear are the likeliness of the Mexican team. This close association is not simply an expression of popular nationalist nostalgia, but is a further attempt to re-create Mexico in the United States”. (Shinn,