Livin' la vida futbol

WEST JORDAN -- Each work day, Jose Alfredo Carvajal makes a down payment on the American Dream, laboring as a painter and building himself a life in his adopted Kearns community. But on weekends, Carvajal revisits the futbol dreams he carried north from his native Colombia.

"I am passionate," he says, "about soccer."

Like hundreds of other Utah immigrants, Carvajal competes in a local Hispanic amateur soccer league. No, the leagues aren't exclusively Latino. Players from other backgrounds can compete, and some do. But the vast majority hail from Latin American lands where soccer can seem as relevant as one's next breath.

Top-level Utah Hispanic league games offer skilled, physical soccer. But league organizers, players and fans say their involvement stretches beyond the pitch. The weekly matches also play a valued cultural and social role for friends, family and fellow immigrants.

"The leagues are important. We need sports," said player Victor Contreras, a native of Guerrero, Mexico, who now calls Midvale home. "If we have stress or other problems, we relax by playing soccer. My dad, my uncles -- they all play. And we find a lot of friends."

Mario Vazquez is president of the Continental Soccer League -- a local alliance of primarily Latino adult and youth teams.

"The teams are quite mixed . . . with the majority of players coming from Mexico," Vazquez said.

Union, the squad that claimed CSL's June 27 championship game, consists of players exclusively from Mexico. Their opponent in the final, Los Sardinos, is a multi-national side, boasting athletes from Colombia, Argentina, Mexico, even a goalkeeper from New York.

The teams commonly wear uniforms from favorite professional or national clubs. Union, for example, dons the dark blue jerseys of the Mexican soccer club Cruz Azul, while the Sardinos compete in the green and white uniform of Deportivo Cali, a Colombian side.

Los Sardinos initially appeared to be the stronger team in the league final, played at the West Jordan soccer complex. Then midway through the first half, Union's nifty striker, Pablo Munguia, began finding the back of the Sardino net. The contest was emotional, play was rough and one Sardino found himself out of the game after earning a red card.

Union went on to win 6-3. No one from Los Sardinos seemed too upset. After all, the league began again the next week.

The championship match was enjoyed by plenty of wives, girlfriends and soccer ball-juggling kids. A television crew from the local Telemundo Spanish-language television station taped the game for a future broadcast.

"We find a lot of people from other countries, and we get along fine," said Carvajal, a Sardinos player. "We have fun together, and after games we get together at a colleague's home, watch a movie and discuss the next game. A lot of (players) have two jobs, so this is a chance to be together with our families."

Tony Yapias, director of the Utah Office of Hispanic Affairs, said the Hispanic soccer leagues double as vehicles for community outreach. If you want to communicate with Utah's Hispanics, said Yapias, start with the weekly soccer games.

"It is the event of the week," Yapias said.

E-mail: jswensen@desnews.com

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