Goshen, Indiana is home to a private college without an American Football team - and, most recently, a semi-professional soccer club that serves as an - albeit unusual - case study for how grassroots soccer in the U.S. can thrive and build a community. The overarching theme of The Assistant Professor is that football is not merely about goals and stars. It is, done properly, a participatory culture, an identity-forging community and even a political space. And to experience any of these aspects, it takes an active role of and for fans. That is possible, most easily, in local clubs. In a nutshell: support your local club. No country's soccer culture makes this vision harder than the U.S.'s - but perhaps no country has greater potential. How does a soccer club get born, in this culture? And can one bring the beautiful game and a local community together so it forges identity beyond stars and goals? Henrique Eichenberger will take us through the particular case study of Goshen. He is from Brazil, he played for and studied at the university I teach at, and he founded Goshen City FC in 2022. HELPFUL LINKS FOR TODAY'S EPISODE: Goshen City FC Goshen College Athletics The Record, "GCFC Gears Up for Second Season" Goshen City FC (Facebook) R.E.M. - "Orange Crush" ( Youtube video ) Young Wonder - Orange ( Youtube Video ) Gilbert Becaud - L'Orange ( Youtube video ) NEW: send me a text message! (I'd love to hear your thoughts - texts get to me anonymously, without charge or signup) Please leave a quick voicemail with any feedback, corrections, suggestions - or just greetings - HERE . Or comment via Twitter, Instagram, Bluesky or Facebook. If you enjoy this podcast and think that what I do fills a gap in soccer coverage that others would be interested in as well, please Recommend The Assistant Professor of Football. Spreading the word, through word of mouth, truly does help. Leave some rating stars at the podcast platform of your choice. There are so many sports podcasts out there, and only ratings make this project visible; only then can people who look for a different kind of take on European soccer actually find me. Artwork for The Assistant Professor of Football is by Saige Lind Instrumental music for this podcast, including the introduction track, is by the artist Ketsa and used under a Creative Commons license through Free Music Archive: https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Ketsa/
