‘We wear Arsenal, but we are Deportivo Hidalgo’: jerseys, team names and senses of place in Latino recreational fútbol leagues in Oklahoma City

Abstract

This paper focuses on a Latino recreational fútbol (soccer) league in Oklahoma City and the meaning of jerseys and team names the players choose while participating in this league. For example, it is quite common to find teams of Latino men wearing the jerseys of European professional teams. To wear the jerseys of European professional teams while playing fútbol in Oklahoma City operates as symbolic capital which demonstrates one’s fútbol knowledge and declares one’s belonging in this subculture of recreational fútbol. Yet the team names belie any interpretation that these Latino men somehow see themselves as culturally European when on the pitch. Team names are meant to connote senses of place of origin. This declaration of local identity is important because other players and teams may be from the same country; thus to name one’s team after a specific locality signifies one’s identity with that locale as opposed to others.