“We almost had one there”: an informal ethnography
by Sara Lewis

Method of Research

Not entirely understanding what an ethnography is, I left to conduct one on a chilly field in South Seattle on 12 February 2003 . My subjects: players in a soccer match of an Over 40's League. My guide for the journey was Will, the son of one of the players for the Red Zingers. I realized before we left that as a young woman with working class parents and very limited knowledge of soccer, I had no idea what was about to occur. I had a vague sense that I would stick out oddly among folks from Bainbridge Island , but little more. The limitations of my study relate mostly to the brief period of observation, the lack of a developed plan beforehand, and the lack of a real issue to resolve. I chose to go mainly because I'd never watched a soccer match before, and since I'd been reading so much about it I wanted to see the real thing.

Observation

Although I was certainly aware of my incongruence with the setting and a bit on my toes at first, I was quickly disarmed by the uniform friendliness of the Zingers. Will and I sat on a bleacher near the center of the brightly-lit field, the only observers other than the Zingers' three alternates. I was unable to gather the name of the opposing team, who wore yellow, and kept thinking of them as the Lemon Zingers, after the Red and Lemon Zinger teas I drank as a child.

The game startled me by beginning with very little fanfare, and all of a sudden there were men carefully chugging up and down the field in what looked like schools of fish. I asked Will if the Reds have a particular type of play- structured like England , freestyle like the Dutch, exciting like Brazil , and he laughed. They play a mixture of styles, but mostly they play like old men- a slow, passing game, he explained. Upon learning that they use a 4-4-2 formation, I decided that they probably play more like England than the other styles I'd been learning of, although I was certainly not the best judge. Over the course of the game I learned some basics, (it's ok for the goalie to handle the ball, and they wear those socks to cover up shin-guards,) and began to see a little of the art in the sport. Will grumbled about one of the Lemons who ran a lot and seemed rather young- obviously a little full of himself. At first I failed to find his tendency to dribble a lot annoying, but Will explained that it can make a person seem self-centered to dribble instead of passing the ball off to teammates. Apparently this is a debate in the soccer world- whether dribbling a lot is excessive and arrogant or a good tactic. The cues that I understood were his swearing irritably if a teammate made a mistake and the fact that the Lemon strategy seemed to center on getting the ball to him so he could score.

I came to appreciate fancy footwork, and the strategy of passing back to teammates with more room to move around (which at first seemed counterproductive,) as well as the difference between a powerful, muscular style and elegant, graceful one. By halftime I had even begun to know which whistle-blows were due to players offside, which, having learned about Arsenal, was very exciting. During halftime, which was brief, the teams gathered around their bleachers for rounds of back-patting and encouragement. A few players coached others, but for the most part it was a cheerful rallying of spirits, and when they dashed out onto the pitch they seemed refreshed.

The score up to halftime had been 0-2, but the Lemons had only the exact number of players necessary, while the three alternates had been switching out and keeping the Reds energized. The tables began to turn, and particularly toward the end, which the ref seemed to be staving off for the hopeful Lemons, the Reds played well. The game ended at 3-2, and the Reds came in sweaty and exuberant, to greet us shivering on the bench. Gathering in the parking lot proved lively as promised, and as a cooler of beer was opened the men formed little groups and enthusiastically discussed the game. Will and his dad discussed friends and relatives, and I had a talk with another team member, who was curious about how they were helping us with our schoolwork. He seemed delighted that we had come to watch, and that we wanted to observe them for a class, citing our presence as the real source of their victory. Shortly our time was up, though, and I was happy to place my stiff body on the heated seats of the Audi and go home.

Who are the players?

Although there was some suspicion about the actual age of a couple of the Lemons' players, they were all ostensibly males over the age of forty. The composition of both teams was predominantly white, although I noticed an Asian man and another couple of players whose heritage I couldn't identify. Many, if not all, of the Reds live on Bainbridge Island , which is generally an affluent area, and the league was based in Seattle , so I imagine most of the Lemons also live in or near Seattle . The supposition that the players were most likely upper-middle class was confirmed in a discussion I had afterward with one of the Reds. He identified several players on the team by profession, pointing out a marine biologist, an attorney (who I learned also coaches young girls' soccer,) a university professor, and one who worked in an unnamed position with a beer distributor. My informant claimed that having someone with access to free beer was even more fortunate for them than having a physician on the team, although they had one of those as well- a naturopath. Clearly, this was a well-educated (and good-humored) group of men.

Why do they play soccer?

The pure sweaty fun of playing soccer seems to be the most immediate answer, and the concept of “exercise” or health-related motivation was notably absent. In fact, several players wore braces of some sort, and according to Will everyone on the team has knee braces, so it would be hard to argue that the game is purely healthy. Before I could even ask, however, several individuals clearly indicated that they play just for the moment after the game, when the team gathers to drink a beer and chat in the parking lot before heading home. A few made self-deprecating and humorous remarks about stiff old men playing soccer, but each glowed with pride while he said it. What I saw was a bunch of men with jobs involving a lot of personal responsibility and possibly a certain amount of isolation. The visceral, immediate and supportive team environment that I observed probably comes as a welcome contrast to their work. They were also grown men touching each other in familiar and comfortable ways, which made me happy. That they feel safe to be physically expressive seemed like a distinct merit of the game to me.

Conclusion

I enjoyed my couple of hours as an alien in the strange world of an Over 40's League soccer match. The players were friendly and jocular in interactions with me, and they seemed to genuinely enjoy not only the soccer, but the whole social interaction. Although it might not be what some people would call “the real thing,” it exemplified for me what I'm coming to appreciate about sports- groups of people bonding and having fun in their bodies.

Sara Lewis says, “My concentration is in language, culture and health, particularly among indigenous peoples, which is connected in a sort of circuitous way.”