Spot Kick Journal is pleased to announce a competition that could see you win a Jersey of your choice. Read below and see how you could do so.
What makes being a being a soccer fan in the United States different than anyway else in the world is a sense of camaraderie. When you are a fan, it feels like you’re a part of a little secret, almost like being a member of the Masons or a Rotary club — you are part for a group of people who support a sport that is often overlooked by the mass media in the U.S.
That's how I feel when I catch a glance of someone in a soccer kit. Even if it’s the jersey of the team I most desperately despise, I want to give him or her a nod and say, "Nice kit."
I call it a Footy-kit connection.
Don't ever let anyone tell you that soccer is not big in America, because it is — not from watching or reading whatever the media’s spinning but because of Footy-kit Connections. Footy-kit Connections happen every day everywhere; at the grocery store, at the bar, in a park, at a bus stop. You’ll never know where or when, but you’ll absolutely know why. Soccer fans in the U.S. are just crying out for a platform to express their love of the beautiful game. I've seen it, I’ve felt it, I’ve lived it. You probably have, too.
This is not the same as an interaction that, say, a San Jose Earthquakes fan would get from wearing his team’s kit at an opposing team’s stadium. I'm talking about soccer fans as they go about their everyday life experiencing a sense of camaraderie with someone else all because of a shirt.
I come from a suburb just outside of San Francisco, a place blessed with natural beauty. I was exercising the right to experience such beauty by going on a hike up the mountain known as Mt. Tamalpais wearing the necessary hiking equipment for a casual trek with my dog and my Ibrahimovic Sweden national team kit from the 2006 World Cup in Germany.
On my descent I noticed a man in his 30s looking at me with an excited gleam in his eye. As I approached him he stopped me and asked if I was Swedish. No, I told him, I’m of Norwegian origin — treasonous, I know. Regardless, he told me he liked my jersey and then asked if I played. Without even waiting for an answer, he graciously invited me to play in a tournament called the Scandinavian Consulate Cup. The Norwegian, Swedish, Finnish and Danish consulates of San Francisco put on an annual tournament in which players from the aforementioned countries get together to play a pick-up tournament in a park.
The tournament happens every September; and now that I know of Its existence I can't wait to lace up my boots.
This is a perfect example of how kit connections happen. All you have to do is slip on a soccer jersey and bam — you’ll find yourself interacting with another fan of the beautiful game. In my case, it led to being enlightened on a tournament I never knew existed.
This Footy-kit connection represents the torch-b earer for a new feature on Spot Kick Journal. Every time I have an experience that qualifies as one, I will breakdown the events that transpired and touch on the importance of said events.
This is how you can win the kit of your choice. Comment on the blog, Facebook, send me an email, or link to twitter telling a Footy- kit connection that you have experienced. The most creative will be selected and to the victor will a brand spanking new kit be awarded.
Stay tuned for the next edition of Footy-kit connections, only on spotkickjournalism.blogspot.com.
All emails sent to SpotKickJournal@gmail.com
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