The Assistant Professor of Football: Soccer, Culture, History.
The academic treatment for English-speakers who get that soccer is more than gamedays, stars and goals. Who wonder about the histories, subcultures and politics that make the game so different from many American sports cultures; and who care about a critical take on soccer as a global capitalist machine. A European-guided journey, with one expert "visiting professor" each episode.
The Assistant Professor of Football: Soccer, Culture, History.
Support Your Local Club! Goshen City FC, and Semi-Professional Soccer in Small-Town America
Goshen, Indiana is home to a private college without an American Football team - and, most recently, a semi-professional soccer club that serves as an - albeit unusual - case study for how grassroots soccer in the U.S. can thrive and build a community.
The overarching theme of The Assistant Professor is that football is not merely about goals and stars. It is, done properly, a participatory culture, an identity-forging community and even a political space. And to experience any of these aspects, it takes an active role of and for fans. That is possible, most easily, in local clubs. In a nutshell: support your local club.
No country's soccer culture makes this vision harder than the U.S.'s - but perhaps no country has greater potential. How does a soccer club get born, in this culture? And can one bring the beautiful game and a local community together so it forges identity beyond stars and goals?
Henrique Eichenberger will take us through the particular case study of Goshen. He is from Brazil, he played for and studied at the university I teach at, and he founded Goshen City FC in 2022.
HELPFUL LINKS FOR TODAY'S EPISODE:
Goshen City FC
Goshen College Athletics
The Record, "GCFC Gears Up for Second Season"
Goshen City FC (Facebook)
R.E.M. - "Orange Crush" (Youtube video)
Young Wonder - Orange (Youtube Video)
Gilbert Becaud - L'Orange (Youtube video)
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Artwork for The Assistant Professor of Football is by Saige Lind
Instrumental music for this podcast, including the introduction track, is by the artist Ketsa and used under a Creative Commons license through Free Music Archive: https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Ketsa/