The unification of amateur club soccer in Durban, 1980-1997 : a study of integration.

Abstract

This study is a micro level case study which in addition to attempting to establish whether integration in sport lends itself to the integration of broader society, documents and analyses the integration experiences of two Durban amateur soccer clubs. Because soccer in most South African schools currently forms part of the school curriculum which is relatively neglected when compared with sports such as rugby and cricket, it was necessary to focus on amateur club soccer which caters for the soccer playing aspirations of the youth. Areas focussed on included the ways in which historical, race, class, cultural, ethnic and gender dynamics which operate within South African society influenced the integration process. The integration experiences of players and officials from both clubs were recorded and presented as findings. These findings were analysed against the background of local and international multicultural, sport and gender literature. The two key questions asked were: i) does integration in sport rend itself to integration in society; and ii) does the shared understanding of masculinities within male sports lend itself to integration within male dominated teams. It was established that although integration in sport can assist with the broader integration of South African society, important historical, cultural, class, ethnic and gender dynamics which operate within society have to be negotiated by all role players before a significant iintergation can take place.