8 // COASTWEEKEND.COM
PHOTO BY JON BRODERICK
Gustavo Velazquez with
two futsal players follow-
ing recent games.
HISPANIC
COMMUNITY
NOURISHES
LOCAL SOCCER
CULTURE
BY JON BRODERICK
FOR COAST WEEKEND
Some time back — Fergus Loughton and Jerry Boisvert, the institutional memory of the
Lower Columbia Youth Soccer League, reckon it was roughly 15 years ago — the growing
Hispanic community brought with it a festive ambiance to its men’s soccer games at the
Warrenton fi elds.
For many of us, La Liga games there with were our fi rst trip to Mexico: Latin music
played on car stereos, Latin fragrances rose from picnics, children scampered about their
families, chattering in Spanish, while their uncles and fathers played teams that sometimes
came from Longview, Washington, to compete on the immaculate youth soccer fi elds in
Warrenton.
Gradually, some of the more confi dent non-Hispanic players learned they were wel-
come and found their way onto teams. Wednesday nights in spring and summer were a
soccer fi esta.
Ultimately, though, the league become more competitive, more expensive and fi nally, a
PHOTO BY GARY HENLEY
PHOTO BY GARY HENLEY
Continued on page 9
A La Liga player swoops in for the shot in 2010.