I have been living in the bay area since 2009 and my move to Oakland specifically was where I have felt the most like my home. I was amazed to find such an expansive soccer community where so many are invested in having soccer be such a major part of their lives. On a Saturday or Sunday, I can drive through the neighborhood and find all the grass fields, whether on a school ground, whether on one of our many beautiful parks, or pretty much any stretch of grass that is open to use, and see groups of adults, families, or groups of kids out there kicking a soccer ball around. Sometimes, there are cones marking the field and a couple of pug goals at either end; sometimes there are shoes and backpacks demarcating where to score and the field of play; but regardless of the equipment, there is the ball, there is grass and our beautiful Town as the backdrop.
If you head down to Lake Merritt on Saturday morning, you will see a long stretch of grass nestled up against a small library where you find Eastshore park. You will be serenaded by the young man that has his drum set right at the corner making his beats match the music he has playing out of his speaker, and without fail, rain or shine, on the grass behind him will be a group of 30 men speaking different languages that are out for their weekly match in fluorescent colored bibs to denote teams, and the hustle and bustle of the farmer’s market under the 580 fwy right across the street. These are the sounds of Oakland, and soccer is the soundtrack.
On one of my weekend jogs down MacArthur towards the Bay Bridge, I passed Mosswood park and saw a group of women playing pickup soccer, and they happily allowed me to join in. After a couple of Saturdays of going to play with the group, they were all eager to learn more, telling me how much they were enjoying the sport and wishing they could be coached and be part of a team. And I, being a coach, immediately encouraged that wish and guided them to start an Oakland team and join the Golden Gate Women’s Soccer League, Northern California’s largest women’s soccer league. They were excited and scared, but discovering the joy of playing, having the freedom to play with and against other women, and finding a way to share space in sports, these women banded together, just a group of neighbors vibing on soccer, that formed a team.
These are just some examples of many many more, of soccer bringing people together in Oakland. And not surprisingly as soccer (or football, or fútbol, or futebol depending on who you’re talking to) is the number one sport in the world, followed by over 3.5 billion people in the world, and played by nearly 2.5 million people on the planet. In my experience, and probably so many other folks you talk to, soccer brings people together that speak different languages, that come from different countries, with so many different lived experiences, that are bonded by their love and joy of soccer.
When I first moved here, I was a student at UC Berkeley going through a master’s program that focused on the cultural studies of sports in education, with my sights set on developing skills and knowledge that would assist in my capacity to be a soccer coach that would seek to understand the complexities of race, gender, sexuality and other identities, that impact the sport of soccer, those who play it, and even those that support it. In particular I was invested in supporting female athletes that enter this journey, and have effectively found a space that has historically excluded them, chided them for representing their gender in a bullish and unbecoming way, and for those women that have chosen to have it be their profession, underpaid and exploited them. As I move through soccer spaces, I advocate for women, and am vocal and insistent at ensuring that these issues are brought to the forefront and addressed.
I demand equal access to quality coaching, equipment, training resources, and in the case of professional athletes, equal pay. Whether I am coaching at the university level, high school level, or working with youth clubs, I am vigilant in my support of female athletes, and join the fight to support the development of women’s soccer, and the visibility of their contributions to the sport. I also demand that the attention in youth clubs/youth sports be equally distributed in girls programs and that the hype for women’s soccer as a whole be acknowledged, appreciated, and understood to be the powerhouse that it is. Gone is the adage that “no one cares about women in soccer (or insert name of any sport here)” because the data shows that the world is here for it.
If you look at T.V. ratings, the women’s world cup final in 1999 had 18 million viewers, and took 15 years to be matched by the men’s world cup final in 2014 with 18.2 million viewers; which was then subsequently surpassed the following year with 26.5 million viewers for the women’s world cup final in 2015. And in the most recent women’s world cup (2019), the documented number of viewers for that tournament drew a total audience of 1.1 billion viewers, with 82 million viewers captivated by the final match. The world is watching women’s soccer. It is hungry for it. And Oakland is no different.
This is why we need/want The Town FC. To bring professional soccer right to our front door, live and in color. I believe in The Town FC’s ability to field a team that will be sustained by our city’s love of soccer, and our city’s adamant dedication to equal rights and activism as it pertains to all areas of our community. The Town FC’s soccer will represent this beautiful city and all it’s complexities, and be willing to support all their players regardless of their gender, their race, their ethnicity, and all the things that make them a supreme athlete.
The Town FC will bring our city joy through the beautiful game, and pride that our team has a message and vision of equity inclusion and a desire to be a growing and sustainable part of our community that brings us all a little closer together, and helps us thrive. The joy of soccer moves all of us, and The Town FC is going to give us a front row seat.
~ Lilia Dosalmas