A soccer ball is just like any other piece of sports equipment. It’s round, bounces, and one can even put a curve on it to make it go where needed. What about stopping a war? Bringing a nation together through turmoil? What about bringing smiles to the faces of millions of people suffering in poverty stricken nations? Yes, a small soccer ball can and has solved some of these problems.

During the most recent World Cup in 2006, the most watched sporting event in the world, soccer brought together a nation in the middle of ones it bloodiest wars. The two divided sides of the Ivory Coast called a truce to a bloody four-year civil conflict when their national team qualified for its first ever World Cup. The country saw the unity bringing the soccer team together so the people summoned unity upon them as well to watch their country on the biggest stage in the world. This shows us how we settle our differences by realizing that we can come together by something that makes us jubilant collectively rather than dishing out our differences through violence.

More recently, soccer has been also been heavily involved in the fight against AIDS. Through the Grassroots organization, children across Africa and especially in South Africa have been thoroughly educated on HIV and AIDS. Through soccer and powerful role models, the organization utilizes them to their full potential to reduce HIV transmission among youth. With continually growing funding from organizations such as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Kellogg Foundation, the program has been able to create soccer clubs and academies to get adolescents off the streets and on to the field. The Grassroots organization uses the power and popularity of soccer to break down cultural barriers, educate young people, and bring communities together through the issues of violence and infections. A curriculum is set up where activities are used to reach out to communities through professional trainers and peer educators.

The program works mainly with three countries: South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe. The children go into the program and are taught the basics about STD’s, mainly HIV, and the ways that one goes about preventing from being infected. One of the main goals highlighted by the organizations is to, “have the most effective HIV prevention education and life-skills curriculum in Africa.” One statistic that they have greatly improved is he percentage of students who believed condoms are effective increased from 39% to 71%.

Soccer is a powerful sport and brings smiles to billions around the world. In most places simply showing up to a field with a soccer ball will win you instant friendships and access to the local community. As the sport continues to expand across the world, the U.S. should continue to evolve the sport here and use our diversity as an advantage in showing the world how easy it is to come together. If a soccer ball can inspire a continent to end wars and battle AIDS, then as one of the most powerful countries in the world, we too can use soccer as mean of bringing peace and harmony to places where its most needed.

FABIO GONCALVES
Student Voice Contributor

“Beckham…who?” my friend said to me, a puzzled look on his face.

“WHAT?!” I responded in bewilderment. “You don’t know who David Beckham is?!”

What had begun as a typical conversation between friends proved to be an eye-opening experience. I wondered how someone could not know one of the biggest icons in soccer, not to mention one of the biggest sports figures in the whole world.

But it was the same story during the World Cup, one of the world’s biggest and all-encompassing
athletic tournaments, which kicked-off again last June. You know, that World Cup, the one that Italy won. While I spent endless hours glued to the couch rooting on my favorite national teams, joining millions around the world in doing so, most of my friends didn’t even have a clue that USA was involved. With such low fan support, it’s no wonder USA was eliminated in the early stages by the smaller yet more enthusiastic Ghana. It’s obvious: compared to the rest of the world, the US simply isn’t that interested in soccer.

Acknowledging this fact was difficult for me. Coming from a purely Spaniard family, the sharp difference in fanaticism for football (as it is known worldwide) was clearly evident in my yearly trips back to the
European continent. Back home, everyone and everything seems to revolve around this sport that’s been played since before the time of Christ. In fact, for most, soccer is more than just a sport.

“It’s almost like a religion compared to over here in the US,” freshman Jonathan Kinne explained. “Over in Europe soccer is huge. I have no idea why it’s not famous here.”

Now many are joining a crusade to bring the beautiful game to new heights on US shores. Large companies and well-known footballers are speaking up and taking a stand, all for the love of the game. One example is David Beckham who has taken his London soccer academy, “The David Beckham
Academy,” all the way to Los Angeles, California. The academy states that “the game of soccer is undoubtedly the most played sport in the world,” and so they have set up a school to teach the game to kids of every age, allowing them to perfect their skills in a fun atmosphere. Beckham believes that the best way to let the love of the game live is to teach the future generations, thus allowing it to progress and develop into a perfected art form. (For more information check out www.thedavidbeckhamacademy.com).

Another great contributor to this crusade is Nike. According to Nikefootball.com, the company has set up numerous campaigns just for the sake of digging deep down into the “soul of soccer in America,” and bring to life what’s left of it. Their website reveals different approaches to reach their goal, including catchy slogans such as “Join the Chain,” “Don’t Tread on Me,” and “Beware!” (this slogan is combined with an image of a snake wrapped around a leather soccer ball).

Nike’s worldwide campaign to make the game beautiful again is called “Joga Bonito” (“Play Beautifully” in
Portuguese). It has recruited figures such as Cristiano Ronaldo, Thierry Henry, Ronaldinho, and Fernando Torres to fuel young athletes to continue the legacy that is known as soccer. With the legendary footballer Eric Cantona as their spokesperson, the “Joga Bonito” crew has set out “to remind the world that this game is about skills, heart, honor, joy, team spirit,” as Cantona himself states in their numerous commercials. “I need your help, your heart and your feet, together me and you, we
can make it beautiful again. Beautiful!” Cantona pleads. With such inspirational words coming from a very legend himself, who wouldn’t want to join them?

Sports Journalist Adam Spangler has also joined in on the crusade to dig deep down and truly find out “what is American soccer.” Affiliated with Nike, he is on a nationwide mission interviewing, going to athletic events, and challenging people to open their mind to the world’s game. Aiding in the attempt to revive it, he is blogging his adventures on his online blog at www.thisisamericansoccer. com. As Spangler puts it, he is “mining the cave that has held soccer hidden for far too long.” An excerpt from one of his recent blogs reads that he has been “looking for a path out of the darkness. Is darkness too harsh a word? Given that I’ve not a single concrete answer for where US soccer is heading, part of me wants to come up with something stronger than darkness, something in line with gravitational power of a black hole.”

There is a glimpse of hope though, glimmering on the horizon. “I do think it can get bigger,” Kinne says, “and it is.”

First and foremost, we need to have a different mindset. “This all starts with the organization, from the suits down to the coaches and players,” Spangler explains. “There needs to be a major attitude adjustment.”

“So step forward my brother’s in football and join us,” the voice of legend Cantona echoes in the distance. “This is just the beginning!”

LORENA CHOUZA
Published in the November 1, 2006 issue of The Metro.