5280 Magazine – May 2018

64 |^5280 |^ MAY 20^18

CULTURE

the past 35 years. he anti-immigrant fear-

mongers will tell you this is an ominous

trend. he fearmongers, I am here to tell

you, are wrong. Growing minority popu-

lations have helped communities

expand and have slowed popu-

lation decline in counties that

otherwise might have lost resi-

dents. Since incoming minorities

tend to be younger, the Headwa-

ters study says, those new arrivals

are an “economic bellwether”

of growth creation in some places, and in

others, they’re keeping schools and local

businesses alive.

It’s no accident that my wife and I chose

to raise our children in a region full of immi-

grants from around the world. During our

many years in Southern California, we

encountered countless languages, dialects,

and cultures—and our family is the richer

for it. Soccer thrives in places that are espe-

cially diverse, because unlike American

football, soccer is a world sport. Select a spot

on the globe, set up makeshift goals, and

within minutes you’ll have a game going.

he players may not speak the same lan-

guage or have anything in common. hey

teams, an adult rec league, and anyone

else who wanted to reserve the field.

I showed up for a pickup game that fall.

he matches are organized and overseen

by Elliot Lauber, the town’s assis-

tant recreation director, and are

designed to bring out locals who

might be interested in joining

one of the league’s six organized

teams. I was recruited onto the

Real Fraser team, not because of

my dazzling ield play—I had not

yet touched the ield—but because I hap-

pened to park next to the team’s manager.

Turns out, Real Fraser is known in the

league as the “gringo team.” Everyone

speaks English, so I fit right in—if you

ignore my white hair and the 30-year age

diference between my teammates and me.

But one look around the dome that night

made it clear that this is where you can ind

many of Grand County’s mostly invisible

Latinos, who often work on ranches and in

hotels and restaurant kitchens. Last fall the

league’s other ive teams were captained

by men named Rios, Perez, Rivas, Garcia,

and Jacobo. Opposing players swore almost

entirely in Spanish, which made Lauber’s

might be roofers or ranchers or bankers or

mothers. hey might drive everything from

battered trucks to expensive SUVs. None

of that matters. Soccer players are simply

looking to play, and I’ve yet to ind a better

petri dish for meaningful cultural exchange.

If it were up to me, I’d suggest the U.N.

General Assembly convene in short pants on

a grass pitch—with a keg on the sidelines.

DURING MY YEARS AS a visitor to Grand

County, I often wondered about the

giant white tent on the hill. Once I

became a full-time resident in May 2016,

I drove up, parked outside, and peeked

through a window at what seemed like

a mirage: a pristine turf field with a

goal at each end. In the rafters above,

lights and heaters promised nighttime

and year-round play for local school

For the estimated $22 billion price

of building that wall on our country’s

southern border, we could create nearly

37,000 soccer domes across the nation

in an effort to bring people together.

WE WILL COME TO YOU

or book our

PRIVATE PARLOR

for your

WEDDING DAY SERVICES

STANLEY

2501 Dallas St., Suite 269

Aurora, CO 80010

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2009 W. 33rd Ave.

Denver, CO 80211

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