Essay On Chicano Players

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I decided to do my paper on the Chicano players and what impact they had on MLS. The reason why I chose this topic is because soccer is my life. I have been playing soccer since I was six years old and still to this day playing at EWU. I thought it would be very interesting to learn how Chicanos started out with soccer in the MLS. I have so much respect for Chicano athletes in the MLS and just Chicanos in general. I know that Chicano soccer players in the MLS are great players, and I feel like Chicano soccer players have helped the MLS become famous and help the MLS stay popular by having such outstanding players in the United States. A few other topics I will also be focusing on is how hard it was to compete with the Americans in the MLS and …show more content…

In the MLS inaugural season of 1996 there were significantly less Chicano athletes then there are now. What blew my mind was that there were only three players in the MLS that were Latino. To me it seemed like they opened the door for other Chicanos/Latinos that wanted to play in the MLS. Their names were Hugo Sanchez, Jorge Campos, and also Jose Vasquez. Hugo Sanchez played for Dallas Burn in the MLS by the end of his career. He only played for the Dallas Burn for one year but after that he went on to playing with a club team then retired from soccer. Jorge Campos played for LA Galaxy for two year then played for Chicago Fire in 1998. In 1998 he won the MLS cup with his team on the Chicago Fire. That is like winning the Super bowl for football, it’s a big deal and even a bigger accomplishment being the first Latino to do it. The third Latino to be a part of this was Jose Vasquez. He played for LA Galaxy from 1996-1999. He was cut from the team after he experienced a very harsh injury. In 1998 he was a part of the MLS Pro40, which is the top 40 players from that year. This is also a very big accomplishment to be a part of and being the first Chicano to do it make it even better. At the beginning of their 17th season this year there were 78 Chicano athletes on the 19 MLS teams (MLS 1996 Recap, 2014). …show more content…

When the league formed there were hardly any foreign players even from Mexico. In the next couple years as it gained popularity players started coming from Mexico. This opened the door for players from all around the world to start coming in and playing soccer here. As of today there are currently 66 different countries represented by players on MLS rosters. This would have been unthinkable when the league first came to be. 60% of the athletes in the MLS are American born players and of that percentage 14% are of a Chicano background (Hispanic Market part of DNA of MLS, 2009). Which is the second largest group of foreign players in the MLS, second only to Canada and there are two MLS teams in Canada. This is something recruiters from the league are starting to lean towards when selecting upcoming talent to fill their rosters. They would much rather have people who were raised watching and playing soccer from a very early age than people who enjoy soccer but aren’t as fully devoted to it as a lot of Chicano people are. This leads them to have a drive and desire to succeed here because their love for the game and wanting to play it at any cost. That spirit and work ethic can be seen from many Chicano people as they strive to better their lives and the lives of their

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