Award Date

August 2024

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Sociology

First Committee Member

Robert Futrell

Second Committee Member

Cassaundra Rodriguez

Third Committee Member

Lillian Jungleib

Fourth Committee Member

Erika Abad

Fifth Committee Member

Norma Marrun

Number of Pages

172

Abstract

This study examines how youth sports privatization, family dynamics, coaching, and team organization affect Latinx youth’s opportunities and interests in playing competitive soccer. It also examines the role that soccer plays in identity-making for Latinx people in Las Vegas, if and how they use these soccer spaces to develop kinship ties and build community, and it documents how these soccer spaces are developed as counter-spaces. I employ Critical Ethnography paired with 36 interviews with youth and adults. I observed two club soccer teams and one soccer league in Las Vegas (the league was a public community league that primarily caters to the Latinx population in Las Vegas) to gain a better understanding of the different types of teams and leagues that operate in Las Vegas, who plays in these leagues and why, and what their experiences in these respective teams and leagues are.

SC is a large club team whose goal is to become a nationally recognized academy. It is located in the general downtown Las Vegas area. They set themselves apart from other teams by having access to the highest quality facilities, coaches, and training environments. While classified as a non-profit, participation in the club is expensive as it competes in multiple tournaments throughout the year. Justice FC is also part of the same league as SC, but its focus and target are slightly different. They focus on low income and Latinx communities and their mission is to ensure the local low-income soccer community has a chance to play club soccer. The Spanish Soccer League (SSL) refers to a local Las Vegas community league that offers low- cost soccer participation for youth and adults. The league has 15 youth teams and 40 adult teams. The Spanish Soccer League is relatively low cost for youth and adult teams as there is no registration fees, participants only have to pay referee fees.

Participants across the board (coaches, parents, and youth) indicated that the high costs of sport participation limits opportunities for youth. I explain how the high costs of sport participation are making it difficult for families and youth to participate in soccer. Despite the costs of participation, some families and youth continue to view soccer participation as a vehicle for social mobility. Among Latinx participants, some viewed soccer as an opportunity for advancement and social mobility while others were happy to participate in the sport because of the sense of community and joy they experienced through it. I discuss how soccer spaces offer people from the Latinx community the opportunities to maintain a sense of their ethnic identity and build kinship ties. Overall, more work is needed on finding ways to make sport participation in general—and soccer participation specifically—more affordable for families from lower economic statuses.

Keywords

Class mobility; Counter-spaces; Gender; Race; Sport; Youth

Disciplines

Sociology

Degree Grantor

University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Language

English

Rights

IN COPYRIGHT. For more information about this rights statement, please visit http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

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