Languaculture and grassroots football: “Small goal” in Trinidad

Abstract

This paper provides anthropological insights into “small goal football” on the Caribbean island of Trinidad and makes a contribution to the understanding of grassroots football on an international level. The content was collected via long-term, ethnographic research. Two short descriptions are offered: one on language-in-use on the small goal football field (racial/ethnic nicknames and others words) and one on conflict on the small goal football field (what are power relations like amongst these footballing men and why?). These two descriptions and their discussion help to conceive some qualities of small goal football in Trinidad as a phenomenon, “languaculture,” and social institution, and explore what small goal can mean to those taking part in it in three distinct ways. 1) We learn about the uniqueness of Trinidad social-reality, and how the scars of colonial history, such as racial hierarchy and white supremacy, are remade through sport under the banner of continuity and change. 2) We learn about sport and masculinities, and how some everyday qualities of masculinities in Trinidad, such as authority, sexism, and conflict, are both reorganized and reinforced on the field of play. 3) We see sport through the eyes of local Caribbean men who engage in small goal football, providing insight into the social institution itself, and the cultural mirror this shines on what small goal means to some local men in a suburb of western Trinidad.