NWA, I’m shaking my fist at you. You put Compton on the map. Well played for that, I think. But years have passed, and your mark on the map is now overshadowing other marks. What was once the public face of Compton to the masses, or at least the first name yelled in free association, should no longer be. This isn’t an indictment of what’s in your iPod (or mine), but rather a short plea to allow yourself, ye olde consumers of culture, to be reprogrammed to make room for the new faces of Compton.
There are approximately 100,000 residents of Compton, California, a locale that sadly might not have registered with many Americans if it wasn’t for NWA’s Straight Outta Compton and 90s movies “highlighting” gang violence in South Central Los Angeles. In 1980, Compton was roughly 80% African-American. But the Compton first introduced to the masses through music and movies, much like the rest of America, has changed.
Compton is now roughly 70% Latino/Hispanic. Surprise, rest of America! Compton has not only undergone a sizable demographic shift, but also a slight shift in the roster of local heroes. Fans of Mexican clubs Club America and Chivas Guadalajara, and now MLS clubs LA Galaxy and Chivas USA, are slowly saturating the community. But even though Compton’s demographics have changed, a few things haven’t. Finding safe, productive things to do remains a challenge for kids and parents looking for alternatives. But in spite of the relatively recent influx of soccer fanatics, Compton surprisingly has no soccer fields. That’s right. Zero soccer fields. None. Nada. Mind you, this is an area two exits from the Home Depot Center, home of Landon Donovan and Chivas USA midfielder Sasha Kljestan’s mustache.
So while soccer specific stadiums are all the rage in MLS, kids who want to play soccer find themselves scrambling around on multi-purpose, often unsafe, dirt patches or baseball outfields in relative obscurity, only two exits away from one of U.S. soccer’ s newest shrines.
Compton has long been a recognized hotbed for athletic talent by American football, basketball and baseball scouts who have been familiarizing themselves with the area for decades. Not too long ago, Major League Baseball opened a multi-million dollar training academy at Compton Community College, at least implicitly acknowledging the local pool of talent, as well as the lack of safe space, and the need for extracurricular activities for youth in the area. But that’s baseball. Unfortunately, in most urban areas, soccer remains like Kathy Griffin, seemingly always around, but consistently easy to ignore. Soccer remains an outsider in spite of continuing evidence that American football, basketball and baseball are arguably harder and harder to break into, and in spite of the fact that soccer is a game that invites 5 ‘7″ Lionel Messis and Cobi Joneses, and 5 ft. 6 in. Salvadorians like former LA Galaxy midfielder Mauricio Cienfuegos to excel at every level.
Recognizing the power that soccer has in the inner-city communities and specifically in Compton, Mike Herman, Founder and President of Compton United, cobbled together a soccer club now serving over 200 kids on a shoestring budget … remember, without access to a soccer field. It hasn’t been easy, but that hasn’t stopped Herman yet.
****
Herman moved to Compton roughly 15 years ago. With a background in American football and wrestling, he was a soccer novice, backing into the power of soccer after his kids took up the sport. Starting off, Herman perhaps knew a bit more about soccer than most Americans know about cricket. Years later, Compton United is slowly weaving its way into the fabric of the community. Through the years, Herman has had a front row seat to witness the challenges facing Compton’s youth. He knows very well that even though the demographics have changed, many of the underlying challenges have not.
The challenges Herman and some of the Compton United families face might not exactly resonate in other soccer communities across America. Many of us have heard of locations where employers go to pick up day laborers. Well in Compton, there is a nearby day laborer area for children where employers come to pick up kids, many of whom would rather be playing. This situation would be appalling if it occurred next door to most of us, but in certain communities, it does. That’s the reality. Missing practice or a game because of work sometimes has a slightly different connotation at Compton United. With the financial challenges facing some of the families associated with the club, retaining kids, even those who desperately want to play, becomes a common obstacle. Add family members’ immigration issues to the financial issues, and you start to scratch the surface of what makes pulling yourself up by your own bootstraps a bit more of a challenge in Compton and similar urban environments across the country.
But in spite of all this, the club, the kids, the parents, and a handful of volunteers, are still making it work. Compton United’s budget breaks down to a cost of approximately $450 per kid per season. The kids, however, are only charged $195 to participate, leaving the difference to be covered by corporate and individual donations, a hustle that takes time that Herman and his understaffed club should ideally be dedicating to the kids. The non-profit types in the audience know this game. But even at this reduced cost, $195 dollars is a lot of money for families already struggling to get by. Nevertheless, the sacrifice is worthwhile to some. Individual and corporate attention, from the likes of Adidas and the local MLS clubs, have made life easier in many respects, but many of the day-to-day challenges facing the club remain.
****
Even though Compton United has no field to call home, they’re hoping to move on to fields further away.
Fifteen kids from the Compton United’s Under-15 team have been invited to play in the Hope Cup International Youth Tournament in Mamelodi, South Africa, home of South African Premier League team Mamelodi Sundowns, during the 2010 World Cup. This will be a life transformative experience for kids. In addition to playing in the tournament, they will visit the apartheid museum with local teams, participate in a community service project at an orphanage in Soweto–working with children and helping to build a soccer field, and take in several World Cup games. These are the types of experiences that add perspective to life, but are often unattainable for kids who often don’t get to leave their own neighborhoods.
The kids have been working hard to raise money to cover the trip, but are still short as the cost of the trip is more than a decent chunk of change for many of their families. If you feel inclined to chip in to contribute to a once in a life time experience for these kids, you can do so here.
Compton United does so much right. We will spend some time in forthcoming pieces focusing on the club, which in many ways is a model of how we should be addressing urban challenges. Stay tuned. And in the meantime, feel free to head over to Compton United to learn a bit more about the club. Or again, over here to help their kids embark on a trip of a lifetime.
