When I first got involved with AFC Ann Arbor, people asked me what I loved about soccer. My answer was the same as others I’ve met through the sport: “It’s the world’s game. A global and diverse sport that brings people of all different backgrounds together.”
The pitch should be “the great equalizer” for all players regardless of skin color, religion, culture or gender. Unfortunately, prejudice and racism continue to plague our sport.
In the US, professional soccer remains diverse on the field but not in ownership, executive, and head coaching positions. According to the Fare Network report, Black and brown players make up 58% of Major League Soccer (MLS) rosters. But off the field, the story differs. White individuals make up 96.2% of club presidents, 92.3% of league executives, and 76.9% of coaches. In the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL), while there are Black investors such as Serena Williams, Naomi Osaka, Dominique Dawes and Briana Scurry, 100% of the club presidents, senior executives, and head coaches are white.
“The standard of beauty for women in America has always been predominantly white,” said former Michigan State soccer standout, Alex Warner.
The lack of diversity at the executive and coaching levels is troubling. Last month, Michael Nsien became just the first Black American coach to graduate with a USSF pro license. It’s a sight seldom seen by many players.
“For me, growing up not seeing a diversity in coaches, administrators, owners in the clubs and leagues I played in was definitely something I took mental notes of,” said Brandon Bye of the New England Revolution.
Many of the players I spoke with shared the “tokenism” factor, a path the sport continues down today. This whitewashing of soccer is systemic and ongoing as barriers of cost, transportation, time, and other resources continue to increase.
Even with grassroots programs like Community Kicks, aimed specifically at introducing the game of soccer, nutrition, and life skills to Black and Brown kids in under-resourced communities within Detroit, Ypsilanti, Flint, Lansing, Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo and Dearborn, participation cliff dives as costs escalate in the jump from recreational play to travel teams.
Ethnically diverse clubs are not structured to fit the current system. Whether it be the cost, field availability, or politics, there are many barriers that have challenged non-white youth clubs like Michigan FC or Wild Dogs FC.
Michigan FC is a club that began with just a few kids who had recently escaped from the war zone in places like Syria, Iraq, and Yemen. Wild Dogs FC was originally created in partnership with Catholic Social Services Hispanic Outreach La Casa Amiga as an afterschool activity. Both clubs are run by volunteer administrators who have made this work their life passion. Their costs are closer to free than to the rest of the youth soccer landscape.
Barriers to Entry
Individual player fees range from $1,500 to $3,000, which excludes uniform, travel, and additional tournament expenses. Most clubs have scholarship programs but almost none significantly improve access for Black and Brown youth. With field access already in strong demand and rental costs reaching an all-time high, BIPOC clubs continue to face surmounting barriers to entry.
The trend these days is for the larger youth clubs or organizations to swallow up the smaller clubs. If clubs aren’t merging or acquiring one another, youth affiliate programs are created adding additional expenses to the families and creating more barriers for non-white clubs to survive and succeed. This trend began 8 to 10 years ago and has only accelerated since.
These new super clubs, state organizations and participating partners (including municipalities) should be held accountable for upholding a systemically racist system by bolstering the barriers to entry.
Some refuse to believe that systemic racism exists in sports. That falsity has consistently been refuted by Black and Brown athletes. In Michigan, the whitewashing of soccer could be a case study in systematic racism.
The Michigan State Youth Soccer Association (MSYSA) 2021 Hall of Fame Class and 2020 Annual Award Recipients were majority white. The Michigan High School Soccer Coaches Association recently announced a virtual coaches clinic with 100% of the presenters being white.
And this hasn’t gone unnoticed by former players in the state.
“The barriers that are created in a system that already prioritizes the success of whites is a reality most non-whites have to live with in the soccer world and non-soccer world in Michigan.,” said Ahinga Selamani, who played at both Michigan and the University of California Santa Barbara (UCSB) before moving on to the professional ranks.
“I was too often validated as an athlete and NOT a soccer player,” added Warner. “The main characteristics used to define me as a player were attributed to speed and strength when I was far more than that. My talent and skill as a soccer player were overshadowed by my physical capabilities.”
Similar to the discrimination experienced by southeast Asian footballers in the UK, Michigan’s soccer system has built an exclusionary path for those that want to play past the recreational level. Across the state, white-owned and operated youth clubs are perpetuating this issue at an alarming rate.
89% of the clubs in Michigan are white-owned and operated. This includes clubs with teams in NISA, NPSL, UWS, USL and WPSL. This solidifies the theory of the sport being whitewashed in the state.
Challenge the System
When a club mentions “growing the game”, I know that phrase isn’t inclusive of all communities. We need to challenge decision-makers and community organizers to create a more inclusive and accountable environment.
Challenge them about the lack of diversity in executive and coaching positions. Question them about what’s being done to make the game more accessible.
Why aren’t the staffs reflective of the communities they represent?
How do they plan to make soccer more accessible to all?
“From a societal standpoint, as a Black individual when I was young playing a sport such as soccer, it was made fun of or looked down upon. If you weren’t playing the so-called Black sports, people looked at you differently. With limited representation it makes it harder for kids not as strong mentally to possibly quit the sport,” adds Azaad Liadi, second-year professional for Tormenta FC of USL League One.
Addressing accessibility, accountability and taking action are key points to being anti-racist in sport according to The Sporting Justice Collective.
“Too often, White men are devising the strategies, policies and rules, to the detriment of Black athletes, much of which is due to a lack of the same life experiences and culture, among other factors. This disconnect, then leads, to inherently racist policies that disparately impact Black athletes,” Sporting Justice Collective Board Member Dr. Kwame Agyemang said, expanding on why Black leadership is so important.
“There should be a plan of action to get more people from different background in key areas of the organization, as well we should try and make each club as accessible as possible to allow any child an opportunity to play on the team, the staff at the top of a club should want diversity early on within the teams from youth ages.” added former University of Michigan men’s player Tristan Jacob.
Michigan has a long history of divisive racial tension. We have seven of the top one hundred segregated communities in the US and highly obstructive barriers for young Black and Brown athletes in sports like soccer. It’s symbolic of a persistent nationwide problem. And without action, the sport will lose the very thing that made it different from so many others.
Diversity.
Maintaining the status quo can no longer be accepted. Club owners and operators, specifically those in Black, minority centric or segregated cities, must be pressured to change the current system. Increasing accessibility to Black and Brown communities is key, but only if the cultures of those communities will be invited and accepted along with it.
