The August nights were humid and pleasantly long. As the summer turns to fall, the game gets shorter. The kids take the fields until six and it’s dark by 7:45. The weather is still lovely, bolstered whenever the sun shines. Before the field is completely shaded, one of the teams must deal with devilish natural floodlights casting long shadows through the trees, blinding keepers, defenders, and attackers as the ball flies high from a goal kick. I guess it balances out because the team dealing with those sneaky shadows also gets the luxury of playing downhill. At this park, a little slice of magic finished less than a decade ago, there is a subtle reminder: yes, it is still a city park, and yes, we’re still dealing with inequities.
When I move to a new place, I almost immediately scour google maps looking for the green splotches, digital signifiers of the parks nearby. Wandering on foot or bike, I go and check them out. Public spaces can be magical and magnetic. They are gathering spots, centering points for a community, and a space to be outside in the busyness of the city.
Raymond Recreation Center seems to be one of these beautiful spaces, a bastion for the beautiful game. The gentrifying Petworth neighborhood in Northwest D.C. is tree lined, but the break in the storied old homes and soulless tall new construction is welcome. Guardrail and bench lined paths, two small turf pitches, one basketball court, one tennis court, rundown outdoor exercise equipment that double as benches, a padded playground, and two picnic tables under a gazebo – all make the park a place many different people can congregate and exist. Capitalism, efficiency, and modern design have seemed to make more and more places sterile, the same. It impacts sports too. Data saturates the games, the play becomes the same. Analysis sometimes negates the creativity and joy that grown men and women find playing a game. Every year there is a new ‘moneyball’ team.
Soccer though, for me right now at least, isn’t any of that. It has the speed, the reaction, creativity, and the excitement that seems lacking. My youth soccer career ended in middle school, but I stay active and am decently coordinated. I’ve also become a fan in the last few years, buoyed by international soccer’s extending arm and the ever-increasing streaming capabilities. My Italian heritage and a lucky FIFA selection landed me supporting Napoli. (My hometown of Pittsburgh has a team, so I root for the Riverhounds in the USL). I Partenopei, as they’re known, have given me some proper ups and downs. Downs being the beautiful rhythm, and then halting of that rhythm, of the Lorenzo Insigne, Dries Mertens, Kalidou Koulibaly teams. Ups being the incredible form the team find themselves in now, Kvaradona of course, and the giddy excitement with seeing your team at the top of the table. The soccer they play isn’t too shabby either.