The Aztexan

In the absence of the Aztex (or any other pro Austin team, so far), I’ve started another online soccer-related project: FC Shirts United:

The world is crawling with soccer teams. You know a few of them: the teams in your favorite league, the big teams from the world’s big leagues. But those are just a drop in the bucket. There are hundreds more out there. Thousands.

And some of them have the coolest crests you’ve ever seen. Crests that deserve a wider audience. Crests that belong on a t-shirt.

Each month we scout the farthest reaches of the world and bring you four fabulous football team logos. Then they fight it out, from group stage to final match, based on your votes. You help crown the winner, selecting which crest is worthy to become our next limited edition shirt.

So far we’ve gone through one tournament, so there’s one winner that you can buy on a t-shirt (for a limited time): the really sharp crest for South Africa’s Thanda Royal Zulu FC.

And another tournament is ongoing right now (there will always be a tournament ongoing . As of this writing we have cool crests from Thailand, Italy, Democratic Republic of the Congo and El Salvador.

Check it out and vote for your favorites. It’s free, easy and only takes a minute or two. On the 22nd of this month (and every month) the tournament enters the final stage, where you can vote again on the two favorite crests from the original four.

I’m having a lot of fun with this — don’t miss the FC Shirts United blog for even more cool logos from around the world — and I hope you will, too. Vote, spread the word, and enjoy.

Eighty Six Forever — The Injustice in Portsmouth, and the Indifference in Austin

Austin is a classic example of what detractors call “the franchise model”: the idea that sports clubs should be moved from community to community based on whichever community is willing to offer the largest incentive. Most soccer fans rail against it furiously, and back in England Milton Keynes‘s club has never been accepted after the city stole the old Wimbledon team to satisfy their ambitions [Wikipedia history lesson - ed.]. But Portsmouth‘s example, one of an owner who buys a club to be a billionaire celebrity rather than for love of the sport or the city, is no less dangerous. Whether the club is moved to Orlando or wound up, it is cut off from the fans who raised it up and cherished it.

Just two years ago, Austin owner Phil Rawlins rang in his new club by saying “My goal is to make the Aztex a community-based club that the Austin area can be proud of.” Pulling up stakes and taking his team to Florida after two years of decent, growing attendance and a competitive team is not exactly compatible with that aim. Rawlins was born in England and in fact sits on the board for Stoke City: presumably he’s heard a thing or two about the franchise debate in England. The idea that he’d try to emulate it is appalling.

Read it all.

Note: There will be a 1:00 PM CT press conference in Orlando on Monday, Oct. 25, revealing details of the new USL PRO team there. Aztex fans will gather at Mister Tramps on 183 at 6:00 PM CT to, well, we’re 100% not sure yet. Sob inconsolably, probably.

photo: TexasSports.com wallpapers

Our Game Magazine — Leah Fortune update

In the July 2010 issue of Our Game, we featured 20-year-old American, Leah Fortune, who played for the Brazilian U-20 Women’s National Team. A redshirt freshman at the University of Texas, Fortune is second on the team in scoring this fall with four goals and four assists in 13 games. But last Monday, she made a difficult choice. She withdrew from the University of Texas. She did so because she was called up to the Brazilian Women’s National Team to compete at the 2010 Sudamericano Femenino, CONMEBOL’s 2011 World Cup qualifiers.

See pages 14-16 of the July issue of this online women’s soccer magazine for the story of how this promising young player with dual citizenship came to be joining Brazil on their journey to next year’s World Cup in Germany. I’m glad I was able to see her when I attended a Longhorns game earlier this season.

¡ahora sí! — Latinos de corazón

Muchos líderes en nuestra comunidad han escogido una misión al cambiar las tendencias negativas para garantizar el bienestar de los latinos, aunque ellos no sean latinos por nacimiento. . . Concluimos el Mes de la Herencia Hispana con un gesto de gratitud a quienes adoptamos como “Latinos de corazón”.

#18 Invertir en futbol: Phil Rawlins » El empresario inglés nacionalizado estadounidense fundó Austin Aztex en 2008, donde juegan el cubano Yordany Álvarez y el mexicano Miguel Gallardo. Aztex organizó un partido contra futbolistas de Haití para ayudar a las víctimas del terremoto; dona equipo deportivo; e impulsa programas de ejercicio en las escuelas del área. Aztex también aboga por traer partidos de equipos mexicanos a Austin.

Read it all in Spanish, or translated by Google:

Many leaders in our community have chosen a mission to change the negative trends to ensure the welfare of Latinos, although they are not Hispanic by birth. . . We conclude Hispanic Heritage Month with a gesture of gratitude to those who adopt it as “Latinos at heart.”

#18 Investing in football: Phil Rawlins » The English-born American entrepreneur founded the Austin Aztex in 2008, where they play the Cuban Yordany Alvarez and the Mexican Miguel Gallardo. The Aztex organized a soccer match against Haiti to help earthquake victims, donate sports equipment, and encourages exercise programs in area schools. Aztex also calls for parties to bring Mexican teams to Austin.

United Soccer Leagues — A Fine Footballing Life

After Everton, Heath would be on the move for the rest of his playing career, joining up with Kendall again when he made his move into coaching as an assistant and player for Sheffield United. Short spells in charge of another former club Burnley and the Blades didn’t offer much chance for him to show what he could be capable of. Neither did two spells as caretaker manager at Coventry. It was during his time with the Sky Blues that Heath began to look west, towards the United States.

Really nice, long piece on our own Austin Aztex head coach, Adrian Heath. Read it all.

AustinAztex.com — Defender Mechack Jerome to Participate in Caribbean Nations Cup for Haiti

The Liancourt, Haiti, native will suit up for his national team when they travel to Trinidad and Tobago for the second round of qualifiers from November 2-6, then again for the finals from November 24-December 5 in Martinique.

Read it all.

I just finished reading The Boys From Little Mexico – A Season Chasing the American Dream, by Steve Wilson. It was excellent, and thoroughly enjoyable, and I recommend it.

The book is about a high school soccer team in Woodburn, Oregon, and their quest for the state championship. What makes their story more interesting is the fact that, unlike almost every other team in the state, the team is almost entirely Hispanic.

At first it seemed a little incongruous that there would be a large community of Mexican immigrants in the Pacific Northwest, closer to Canada than Mexico. But the explanation of how that came to be, dating back to the World War II-era Bracero Program, is just the start of the story Wilson has written.

It’s a good example of one of my favorite aspects of this book: Wilson’s ability to zoom out from the details of the story in Woodburn, give a thorough, “big picture” background, and then zoom back in to the the people at the heart of the story. He does this many times, covering everything from historical immigration, to ESL (English as a second language) instruction, to the physics behind “bending it like Beckham”, to Major League Soccer’s evolving relationship to Latino players and fans:

In an interview on ThisIsAmericanSoccer.com^[link], Sports Illustrated soccer writer Luis Bueno said that he felt MLS clubs need to work harder to find Mexican American athletes because Latinos tend to play in less-established, less-wealthy leagues.

“I have a cousin who’s pretty good at soccer, I think he’s 15. I’m thinking, “Alright, is he going to have the chance to go to college?” Probably not. I’m just being honest. He plays on club teams right now. They’re not the big club teams that the Sacha Kljestans played for and the Bornsteins and the Benny Feilhabers. Those guys had the opportunities to play on those teams whereas someone like my cousin doesn’t. Maybe he plays high school and then that’s it. There are a lot of players like that, who for financial reasons just can’t afford it.”

Bueno, like other MLS critics, wonders if the coaches of MLS and U.S. national teams realize how much talent may be in their own backyard.

“We don’t know,” he said. “There could be the next Landon [Donovan] out here, the next [Jozy] Altidore. We don’t know since it’s something that’s never really been explored.”

But I don’t mean to say this book is an academic essay at all; far from it. The remarkable thing about these zoom-outs of big picture information is that they’re able to add so much to the story in spite of how brief they are.

For it’s the story, and the people in it, that are central here. This book will introduce you to a rich cast of characters, not just the boys on the team, but also their coaches, teachers and foster parents.

The boys on his team were like the boys in his classroom, who never raised their hands and were reluctant to voice an opinion. They were afraid to fail. They were the first generation, or immigrants themselves, and they were supposed to make everything better. By winning the championship. By learning English. By graduating from high school. By going to college. By making a good living. His guys were supposed to break the pattern, and they knew it and it weighed on them.

One of the these characters is Octavio, whose story is traced from the Mexican village where he was born, to his time with the Club Atlas youth program, to his harrowing journey over the border into the U.S., and of course, to his quest for the Oregon high school soccer championship with Woodburn High. Octavio’s story in particular is one that I won’t soon forget, and that I know will come to mind whenever the subject of immigration in America comes up.

Another aspect of the book that impressed me is the soccer writing itself. Wilson really brings to life the action and excitement of the team’s games. The glory of victory and the crush of defeat both feel as vivid as if you were there — maybe more so, given the omniscient coverage of players, coaches and fans.

Reading this during the month-long World Cup, I was struck by the idea of the power of soccer (or sports in general) to transform people, communities, etc. Whether it’s immigrant high school kids in Oregon having something positive to work and fight for, or an African nation wanting to show that it deserves respect on the world stage, it’s quite a theme. But is it real?

I think the paradox of it is that such a storyline is both true and false. Yes, the chance to be on the Woodburn Bulldogs soccer team (or Los Perros, as it’s now more commonly known) is an important, even crucial, part of those young mens’ lives. But at the same time, it’s not magic fairy dust. The team gives them something to work and fight for, but they still have to do the working and fighting.

This fine book brings it all to vivid life. Pick up a copy, I’m confident you’ll find a lot to enjoy from it.

[Disclosure: I received a free copy of this book from the publisher, but the time I spent reading and reviewing it was my own. I wouldn't have bothered with either if it wasn't worth it.]

Red Bull USA — Red Bull Battle del Toro:

Red Bull Battle Del Toro is a spirited, fiercely competitive homage to the Battle of the Alamo – soccer style. Throughout this three-day tournament, four U16 teams from Texas featuring some of the state’s biggest phenoms will clash cleats with four U16 teams from Mexico boasting some of the country’s top emerging stars.

Qualifying games are 6 & 8 PM on Thursday and Friday, final round games at 6 and 8 on Saturday. Admission to San Antonio’s STAR Soccer Complex is $5 per day.

The U16 Mexican teams are Club America, Tigres UANL, Atlas and Chivas de Guadalajara; the U16 Texan teams are Classics Elite (San Antonio), Dallas Texans, FC Dallas and Albion Hurricanes (Houston).

(Via Austin Chronicle.)

ESPN Soccernet: World Cup 2010: Montevideo celebrates victory in defeat

There’s nowhere else quite like Montevideo for feeling the footballing history of a city, and watching a World Cup semi-final in the city where the first ever World Cup was held was quite something. Gio van Bronckhorst’s stunner early on silenced the plaza and seemingly the whole city, but only momentarily – seconds later the chants of “U-RU-GUAY! U-RU-GUAY!” started up again louder than ever. When Diego Forlan pulled the trigger shortly before half-time, the place simply exploded.

Read it all.

SI.com’s Joe Posnanski: The Meaning of Garra

Before Uruguay, soccer apparently was a game of long passes and violence; the sport was direct, forceful, without guile, rugby without hands. In 1924 and 1928, Uruguay took its style to the Olympics — short passes, individual brilliance, something like dancing. Uruguay won, often by spectacular scores — 7-0 over Yugoslavia, 3-0 over the United States and Sweden, 4-1 over Germany. The beauty was what struck people. This was art.

A link to this Sports Illustrated blog post about the history and current state of the Uruguay national team is a little outside the scope of what I usually cover here. But I have more than one reason to share it with you:

1. I have a more or less random but nonetheless keen fascination, almost obsession, with Uruguay. (I don’t know why; blame Bajofondo. And Wikipedia.) So I would have been interested in this anyway. And I also hope that publishing it here somehow gets me introduced to some Uruguayan expats who wind up inviting my family and me to stay for a week or two at their summer place in Montevideo.
2. Uruguay vs Ghana in the quarterfinals, and after Ghana sent the U.S. home from South Africa, we’ll all be Uruguayans on Friday, right?
3. It’s just really an excellent article. It’s a perfect capsule of everything I love most about the World Cup. Soccer, of course, but served with generous helpings of history, geography and philosophy. Fantastic!

One more excerpt, because I can’t resist (though you should really read it all).

But to get to the point, Uruguay had competed in two World Cups… and won them both. When the final ended, Jules Rimet — one of the founders of the World Cup and the man whose name is on the trophy — offered his definition of Garra Charrua, that spirit which had driven Uruguayan soccer. He said:

“In football, playing well is not sufficient. You also need to feel it profoundly as does Uruguay.”