Inner-city blues: in another example of American exceptionalism, soccer in the U.S. is a white, middle-class, suburban sport, which is something that Eddie Pope and others hope to remedy

Soccer Digest, Dec, 2002 by Clemente Lisi

GROWING UP IN URBAN FORT Wayne, DaMarcus Beasley heard every soccer joke in the book. He was told that it was a foreign game. That it was a girl's game. And most of all, that it was certainly not an African-American game. "It was difficult," says Beasley. "All of my friends would ask, `Why are you playing soccer instead of basketball, football or baseball?' I played those sports, but there was always something about soccer that I enjoyed. I would skip baseball and basketball practice in order to play soccer."

Beasley, 20, fell in love with the world's most popular sport at age five, after his father, Henry, brought home a soccer ball. DaMarcus spent his childhood kicking the ball with his older brother, Jamar, moved up the high school and college ranks, signed with the Chicago Fire, and eventually played a pivotal role in midfield for the U.S. team that reached the quarterfinals of the 2002 World Cup. Jamar, meanwhile, landed a spot on the U.S. Under-20 team in 1999, and played alongside his brother with the Fire in 2000. He now plays for Puteolana in Italy's Serie C, the country's Third Division.

The Beasley brothers are part of a new generation of African-American soccer players who are adding a sprinter's speed to a game that is sometimes bogged down by its leisurely pace. They are also examples of how far African-Americans have come at the club and international level.

But despite the emergence of players such as the Beasley brothers, racial divisions in American soccer still exist, and the sport is still played mostly in leafy suburbs.

This wasn't always the case. Most fans are unaware that African-Americans played a vital part in the development of the game in this country. While Jackie Robinson combated vicious opposition when he broke baseball's color barrier in 1947, soccer faced none of the resistance to integration that troubled other major sports in this country.

In 1972, Dallas Tornado striker Cannen became the first black American to sign with the NASL, paving the way for stars such as Darryl Gee of the New York Cosmos, and naturalized Americans such as Colin Fowles of the Fort Lauderdale Strikers. Most NASL teams featured players of different races and nationalities, so African-Americans blended with ease.

The African-American soccer boom actually began before NASL integration, in 1971, when Howard University captured the NCAA Division I title, a feat it would repeat three years later. Howard was the first traditionally black school to win a national collegiate soccer title, after years of dominance by institutions such as St. Louis, Maryland, and UCLA.

American soccer struggled during the 1960s and black American role models were scarce. As a result, many current African-American players name Pele as their childhood inspiration, even though the three-time World Cup winner is Brazilian and was past his prime when he signed with the Cosmos in 1975. "I think it has become easier for black kids now to find role models on the soccer field," says Beasley, who conducts clinics with inner-city children in Chicago. "Now there are many dark-skinned players other than Pele that black kids can look up to."

But African-American soccer fans still have few homegrown role models. Even some of the U.S. national team's most prominent black players--such as defender David Regis, who was born in Martinique and lives in France, and Dutch-born-and-raised midfielder Earnie Stewart--are naturalized citizens who have never lived or played club soccer in America.

U.S. defender Eddie Pope says ultimately it will be young, dynamic players such as Beasley--whose potential impact on American soccer is often been compared to that of golf prodigy Tiger Woods--who will convince African-Americans to play soccer and follow MLS. "Hopefully a lot of kids will watch [Beasley] on TV and say, `I can be like him,'" says Pope.

Beasley, who says he and his brother looked up to Michel Platini, a white Frenchman, while growing up, appreciates the praise but believes the compliments are premature. "I'm not the Tiger Woods of soccer," he says. "I don't dominate my sport like he does in golf. It's flattering that people say that. I do want to get there someday."

Critics warn that Beasley's success is the exception, not the rule, and the attention that he is getting is misleading. That neglects to consider that you need to start somewhere, and the spry midfielder is as good an inspiration as any.

One troubling thing is that those in soccer circles tend to lump together the terms "African-American" and "inner-city, neglecting that other minority groups, including Hispanics and Asians, live in urban areas. And despite playing in ethnic leagues, many Asian and Hispanic teens are not being incorporated into U.S soccer clubs.

Pope, a seven-year national team veteran who also plays with D.C. United, says inner-city kids of all races should be given the same opportunity as white suburban children to nurture their talent in state-of-the-art facilities. "I was naturally the only black kid on my youth team," he says. "It wasn't until I got to college that there were more blacks on the team. More leagues need to come into the inner city. We need to start building some fields and taking care of them. A lot needs to be done."