Relearning the beautiful game.

• Author: Healey, Josh
• Position: Left Wing Futbol Club - Essay

WOEVER SAID SPORTS and politics don t mix could come spend a Sunday in the Bay Area. Meet me here near the Golden Gate Bridge, and I'll introduce you to the one and only Left Wing Futbol Club where solidarity trumps competition, where imperialism is completely offsides, and where no matter how many goals are made, the score is always 2-2.

Every Sunday afternoon for the past four years, I have joined the thirty-plus members of Left Wing for this extraordinary community ritual. We are artists and activists, teachers and construction workers, elders and future elders, all united in our belief in a more just world--and in our love of the beautiful game. Soccer is the world's sport, the only truly global language on our divided, war-torn planet. So every week when we play our Left Wing game, we are taking a small stand for peace, for justice, and for good one-touch passes everywhere.

What makes Left Wing special is not so much who plays but haw we play. Before every game, we circle up, welcome any newcomers, and explain what makes our game different from Chelsea vs. Arsenal. (Other than skill, of course; Chelsea couldn't hold a candle to us.)

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Here, we say, passing is more important than scoring. Be vocal on the field and support your team--and the other team, too, when it does well. No slide tackling--not just to prevent injuries, but to check the overaggressive, hypermasculine style of play endemic to most sports. And just to make sure no one gets too caught up in the competition, yes, the score is always 2-2.

Subverting sport's fundamental dogma, Left Wing defines our success not by how many goals we score but by the extent to which all players are learning, growing, and most importantly, feeling excited to come back next week. If you do score a beautiful goal, we celebrate that, too. (If only I caused more celebrations!) After all, socialism doesn't mean individuals can't still shine. But in a world where, as Dave Zirin says, American sports have glamorized militarism, individualism, and sexism, Left Wing's greatest victory is how it has made the soccer pitch a space of liberation.

Now, that liberating style of play can take a little getting used to. I remember my own first Sunday game. Every time I got the ball, I would try to dribble through as many defenders as possible, sometimes breaking through but usually losing the ball. Meanwhile, everyone else was passing and moving, passing and moving: sending the ball...