Soccer Culture in America

Yuya Kiuchi is an assistant professor in the Department of Human Development and Family Studies at Michigan State University. His research interests include popular culture, youth culture, African American Studies, technology, and sexuality.

Table of Contents


Acknowledgments ix

A Note on Terms xi

Introduction 1

Part I: Soccer as an American Phenomenon

 1. Making the Mainstream: The Domestication of American Soccer by David Keyes 9

 2. Individualism vs. Community: The Globally Strange Relationship Between the U.S. Soccer System and the U.S. School System by Andrew M. Guest 25

 3. New Traditionalists: The Emergence of Modern America and the Birth of the MLS Coalition by Dennis J. Seese 43

Part II: American Soccer Economics

 4. It’s All Fun and Games Until No One Gets Hurt: European Soccer Leagues, Capitalism and the Movement Towards a Socialist American Model by Cliff Starkey 71

 5. A Resounding Soccer Success ... in the U.S.? by Dwight Branch 84

 6. “Fast-Kicking, Low-Scoring and Ties”: How Popular Culture Can Help the Global Game Become America’s Game by Benjamin James Dettmar 95

Part III: Soccer in American Society

 7. Perceptions of Hooliganism in American Soccer by Cedrick G. Heraux 121

 8. Becoming Apple Pie: Soccer as the Fifth Major Team Sport in the United States? by Glen M.E. Duerr 143

 9. Pitch Perfect: How the U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team Brought the Game Home by Danielle Sarver Coombs 160

Part IV: Interviews

10. Scholarship and Soccer: Alex Galarza 179

11. Japanese Referee in the MLS: Toru Kamikawa 192

Conclusion 205

About the Contributors 207

Index 211