Soccer, S. A.

Brazil and Argentina. If soccer comes to mind, you are on the right track. But in this case its not about Maradona, Pelé and neighborly rivalry. Once a month, in the city of Buenos Aires, the Liga de Futebol Popular brings together 20 teams from seven locations, split up into 5 categories – the youngest members being children age six to eight – to play Argentine soccer with Brazilian flavor.

“What we do here is analyse the Paulo Freire methodology and apply it”, said one of the volunteers in Zavaleta, who, along with Liga supporters and friends prefers to remain anonymous. The soccer league includes the locations of Retiro, San Blas, Once, San Miguel, Boedo and Tigre. 

They are all neighborhood teams, born of local associations of many stripes: Church based organizations, political groups, residents associations, that have, since 2007 allied soccer and education, for the people.

Playing by their own rules

With this goal in mind, activities are designed to spark discussions: before, during and after the games. Soccer fans may find it unusual, but Liga games start with a brief welcoming circle, followed by a quick chat to get young people interacting. Players are drawn to the charming soccer field in Ezeiza, they set up the teams and make up the rules. Yes, this means approximately 20 teams of children and teenagers playing with no referee, and with rules that have been made up a couple of minutes before the first kick.

“The only way to understand rules is to see them as a solution to one's own problems. The concept here is to help kids see for themselves how rules can benefit them and their peers,” said our interviewee. “Apart from that, the idea is not to serve conflicts with punishment, boys and girls without a referee have to resolve their differences in a peaceful manner”.

The teams include boys and girls playing together, and “to make sure there is gender equity” an adult mediator helps in the pre-game preparation and leading a post-game discussion of what went on in the field. But they try to keep it simple, the kids can only take so much talk before they start playing.

The news is that it works. During a day that begins at 10 am and ends at 5 pm sharp, activities include citizenship, radio, dance, painting and capoeira workshops. The kids also get a few hours of free time, when they can do whatever they like in the soccer fields (grass and sand) that stretch out along the throughway that leads to the Ezeiza International Airport.

Determined to stay anonymous

The Liga is about having fun, but it is also about sportsmanship. There is a table of points, positions, goals are added up as in any other championship. The difference however, is that points can also be won in the workshops, ball-free. “We do not want to do away with competitiveness, nor do we want kids to put competitiveness first, cooperation must come first,” said our interviewee, stressing that on the field kids do not play against each other, but with each other.

At this point the reader may ask who is responsible for all this work, as the league closes its second championship and some children graduate to higher football categories. The answer is simple and obvious to our interviewee:  the activists and the youths themselves. “If they did not organize and train every week, you would not have anything here.”

No one speaks in name of Futebol Popular. The Liga allowed Comunidad Segura to take photos as long as the children agreed, and on the condition that they depict no adult, nor allow for any kind of publicity.

“If we let a brand, political party or government speak in name of Futebol Popular we would handing over the work of the activists, and the boys and girls in the neighborhood,”said the interviewee. “We believe the State must participate anonymously, that civil society and businesses can take part, but do so anonymously.”

The idea is step out of the system that, according to our interviewee, helps produce a situation that infringes on the rights of children and youths. “We work with children and youths who are at risk, who are exposed to situations of risk and vulnerability that have been generated by this very system of social exclusion. This system includes these very same actors, who later say that children and youths are dangerous. We cannot help adverstise actors who strengthen a system that breeds social exclusion, when it is precisely what we want to fight.”

The league provides leisure and sports, but it is also about strengthening social networks, fostering leadership and thought. “They use soccer to begin resolving their differences, to speak up about violence, about being vulnerable and about their social situation.” And they play beautifully, of course.

Translated by Lis Horta Moriconi