Dan Washburn's Sporting Life

League isn't Hispanics only

By Dan Washburn
The Times
December 5, 1999 — On a day some eight years ago, Brad Puryear was practicing soccer by himself on a field at Riverside Military Academy. He was a approached by a group of men. They asked him if he would be interested in joining their team in the adult soccer league in town.

Puryear said yes.

That he was Anglo and the other men were from Cameroon and Jamaica didn't matter. They all played soccer — and that's all anyone cared about.

The Gainesville Georgia Soccer Association, now 46 teams and nearly 1,000 athletes strong, is often referred to as the "Hispanic" or "Mexican" soccer league. That simply is not the case.

"It's people from outside the league or people who don't know a lot about the league who call it the 'Hispanic' soccer league," said Socorro Aguilar, a league board member. "It's clear that about 95 percent of the players are Hispanic, but it's really the Gainesville Georgia Soccer Association. And it's open to everyone."

Just ask Puryear, who since that initial meeting at Riverside has played eight years in the league, the last six with Balboa, a team comprised mostly of Salvadorans.

"I felt very welcome in the league," said Puryear, 35, a legal consultant for Onyx-Mansfield Energy Services in Gainesville. "There certainly is a language barrier, but I've learned a few words here and there and the people out at the games are very helpful, whether it's your teammates or even the referees."

Puryear, who played soccer in college at Marshall University in West Virginia, usually lets his game do the talking. He has been a member of several Gainesville league all-star teams that have competed throughout Georgia, and beyond.

Puryear was the lone Anglo on a Gainesville team that played in an eight-day tournament in Mexico several years ago.

"That was a once in a lifetime cultural experience," said Puryear, who is originally from Louisville, Ky. "Getting to go into another country and not going to the tourist spots, but getting to go meet and see people from another culture in their own environment was really special."

Some of the terms that tap the cultures reflected in the Gainesville league are common, but not necessarily understood. Hispanic is an ethnic distinction referring to people of Spanish descent. Hispanics can be white, black or of another racial category. An Anglo is, specifically, a non-Latin Caucasian resident of the United States.

The large majority of the league's players are from Mexico. The rest are a hodgepodge from other Latin American countries, Europe, Cameroon, Jamaica and, yes, the United States.

"There is no distinction of race in soccer," said Aguilar. "We are all brothers."

Haydee Anderson, publisher of the Spanish-language newspaper Mexico Lindo, believes such a league can help improve race relations in Hall County, an area undergoing a major demographic overhaul.

"Sports can bridge both communities," she said.

Puryear agrees, saying if Hall Countians would take the time to get to know each other, many existing stereotypes would be negated.

"There are quite a few friendships I have made (in the league)," Puryear said. "Through other things that I'm involved with I would have never had the opportunity to meet these people. As you learn about different cultures and make friends you realize that you have a lot more in common with people than you'd think."