SOCCER IN THE SUBURBS: SPORT AND CLASS IN PRINCE GEORGE'SAND MONTGOMERY COUNTIES

Abstract

Ten years ago, a high school soccer team comprised mostly of Hispanic players was inches away from claiming championship gold but fell short, and they mainly were defeated by teams consisting primarily of Caucasian players. That high school team was High Point High School, the school I attended. I wanted to uncover why predominantly white teams performed better than minority teams because minorities, specifically Hispanics, are raised playing soccer. By doing this, I was able to understand how soccer operated as an American sport. This theses begins with the growth of soccer in Montgomery and Prince Georges counties from the 1980s through the 2000s. It shows how Anglo-Americans have embraced the sport and how it has been used as an engine to widen ethnic, racial, and economic divides within American communities. A case study was conducted emphasizing youth soccer to high school soccer in Montgomery and Prince George'scounties. Primary sources were limited; thus, oral histories with soccer authorities were used from both counties. Sources from The Washington Post and sources outside of Washington, D.C. were used to corroborate their accounts if the fundamental human limitation of memory caused any disadvantages with the oral histories. Chapter 1 focused on Montgomery County, and chapter 2 focused on Prince George'sCounty. The third chapter collected and analyzed information from both counties and highlighted the racial relations among white Americans and ethnic minorities in the counties.