La Barra Latina La Revolucion wants the Revolution to connect with Hispanics

La Barra Latina La Revolucion soccer fan
Photo: Chris Aduama

Edgar de la Cruz created La Barra Latina La Revolucion to unite Central and South American Boston-area fans to support the local team, the New England Revolution. Cruz, the president of Limas, a Boston-area Hispanic league of 20 teams and 400 players, worked with Craig Tornberg, the Revolution's Vice-President of Business Development, to create a seating section and discount to attract Hispanics to the Revolution. Despite the efforts of Cruz and Tornberg, over the summer La Barra shrunk to as few as ten fans at some games. Cruz spoke with Boston Pro Soccer Examiner and explained.

LE: I don’t see many fans in La Barra.

Cruz: No. They always ask me why [the Revolution] doesn’t have more Hispanic players and why the Hispanic players they have aren’t top players. I try to explain they need support and that we have a team here and no matter if it’s black, white, or Chinese, it represents New England, where we’re living.

But they want to see top Hispanic players from Central America or South America,  they want to see a top player like other teams have - Chicago, LA, or New York. The [Hispanics] feel they have a representation problem. I try to change their minds and say it’s okay that it’s not a top player, that they represent us in the league, our community, and whether it’s Honduras, El Salvador, Colombia, Peru - whatever Hispanic nations they come from, we’re part of that group.

The Revolution should think about Latin people because if they don’t want to bring Latin players, they don’t have any of us supporting them. They haven’t and they only have two, Gabriel Badilla and Mauricio Castro.

LE: Would the 400 players from your league come to the Revolution if they had more Hispanic players?

Cruz: Yes. I prefer they bring in a Central American player because there’s not a lot of South Americans around. [Hispanics] don’t go to Gillette Stadium because they’re frustrated, and also with me because I created La Barra and I tried to bring them to Gillette Stadium. Mauricio Castro was out for a couple months and the Costa Rican player Gabriel Badilla was out. Right away, real quick, the fans went away, there used to be more. They started to go down – 150, 130, then a 100, and keep going.

LE: Could MLS get a quality Hispanic player for non-designated player money that would bring in the Central Americans?

Cruz: For a player 32-35, they could find one. I know they want a young guy, like 23, but they just need a top Hispanic player, someone who wants to end his career in MLS to show how the quality in MLS compares to back there. They might have played in Rome, the Italian leagues, Argentine leagues, but when their career is almost over, up to 30 years old, almost every single player from South America or Central America wants to finish their careers here.

La Barra Latina La Revolucion
Photo: Chris Aduama

LE: How did you come to be involved in La Barra?

Cruz: It started last year [2008] in the middle of June. I have a soccer school in Somerville and I work with the City of Somerville with the 21st Century after school program. [The Revolution] contacted me because I’m the president of a soccer league in Massachusetts called Limas [Liga Inter-American Massachusetts Soccer] in East Boston, we have 30 teams.

It’s an adult amateur league, we compete within ourselves and we have a prize at the end of the season. All the players are Latin people from Guatemala, Mexico, Brazil, Colombia, Peru, El Salvador and we have some American players from Europe, Nigeria, and Morocco – we have players from all around the world. Mostly the teams are from Central America but the owners sign up the players. I have my own team, Sport Peru, and we’ve been champion a couple times and I have a couple retired professional players, 38, 39, from Peru on my team.

LE: Who pays for these teams?

Cruz: Each team is owned by someone and the players don’t pay, the owners pay for registration and rental of the fields from Parks and Recreation for the 9-month season and for the uniforms. The owners love soccer, it’s pride. Most of the players do it because they love to play soccer, some of them feel they have a chance to play professional soccer, but mostly the people came here [to the US] to work to help their families.

Anyway, I have my own soccer school in Somerville and that’s when I first inquired about bringing them to the stadium. We arranged a discount if I bring kids because my kids come in every single day and ask about the Revolution and I always buy 40-50 tickets the last couple years. One day I asked them why they don’t have a Hispanic group because I know a lot of people that want to come to this and support the Revolution but the field is very far away in Foxboro.

They give us a good discount. We pay $10 for a ticket and free parking every single time, no matter if it’s playoffs or special events, SuperLiga or Gold Cup, we have special treatment with the organization.

LE: How do fans know how to get the $10 tickets?

Cruz: Everybody has my number, my email. But the reason I created the Barra was to try to unite our community. When you come to La Barra you will see people from Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico, Argentina, Chile, Peruvians, Brazilians. In our countries you can go into a stadium at every single game and you can drum, you can sing, you can jump. If your team loses – no matter what you’ll be there, you take all the cares out of your mind, you just go for it. If the team wins there are crazy ways to celebrate, but here they have rules, you can’t do things like you used to do in your home country. So we have to respect the rules to be part of the organization, but even then we are now part of the organization because we’re cheering for the Revolution so we are part of them.

LE: Do you think Somerville is a good location for a stadium?

Cruz: Oh yes. I was so happy they were trying to put a stadium in Somerville. They want to build a stadium for 20-25 thousand people but if they put it in Boston, they should build it for at least 40 thousand people because I know the stadium is going to fill. Why? Because it’s close to the town and more people can go because it’s close. And it’s better now that they changed the schedule and most games are on Saturdays. Most of the Hispanic people work two jobs, full time and part time.

LE: The Revolution had a rough season and the quality of play was lower than in years past due to injuries to the first team and consequently second string players fielded the team. What's the reaction of La Barra after watching the Revs this summer?

Cruz: They’re pissed off. They say, ‘I can play better than those guys.” That’s true.

LE: The ones who saw those games, are they going to come back?

Cruz: No, they don’t come back unless the team makes the playoffs and they change how they play. After we won three games in a row - they watch the games on channel 38 - they called me after the game and said, ‘They played better this time, next time I want to go, put me on the list.’ But this weekend [September 5-6] is very hard. I don’t even call [the Revs] and ask for tickets because everyone wants to see the World Cup Qualifiers this Saturday. Everybody plays - El Salvador, USA, Honduras, Peru, Colombia - everybody is going to play this weekend, so they don’t want to come to Gillette Stadium this weekend.

Maurico Castro delivers
Photo: Walter Silva

LE: What are some of the other issues with La Barra?

Cruz: La Barra came to the first Revolution game with 200 members, but the security guards take away from you whatever items they don’t allow in the stadium. But even with that, we’re singing, we’re cheering, we’re drumming, we’re happy to support the team. They lose, we lose.

But the security guards should not be so rude first of all. They’re so rude and they scare people. I’m not scared, I live here, I grew up here so I know the rules but those guys are intimidating to Hispanic people. When they come the first time and see how rude they treat them, they don’t want to come back. [The security guards] act like, ‘Watch out, because my eyes are on you.’ Always. When I come with my group and I see them move my people from one station to the other station because they didn’t bring their ticket or couldn’t find it, I go with them and [the security guards] talk very rude. I think they teach them, 'You better watch out with these people,’ so when you’re there you feel that everybody is looking at you.

LE: Would it help to have bilingual security people?

Cruz: Yes, mostly in the section for cheap tickets because honestly, Hispanic people don’t have much money and it’s really rare they’re going to buy a $100 ticket. They could also thank everyone for coming to support the team in Spanish and in English. Maybe some don’t speak English and don’t understand what they say [in announcements].

LE: Would offering Hispanic food and drink make a difference?

Cruz: I already asked them about that, why they don’t give a permit for other Hispanic food but they have a big contract with a big name and charge lots of money so it’s a problem to bring a little taco place in. That’s why we bring our own food and cook it outside before the game, we barbecue, and that’s why La Barra is a beautiful thing and I’m really happy to do it. With Hispanic people, if somebody brings something, they bring it over and we join together and we drink together, we celebrate together, everyone.

LE: What kind of food would appeal to Hispanics?

Cruz: Tacos, pupusas. They’re from El Salvador, very healthy. They look like a pancake and inside have meat and cheese, come with a salad and sauce and are very delicious. Salads, there’s so many Hispanic salads. In summertime they should get granizada. It’s like a Hispanic slush, not what you have here - with mango juice, fruit, not just coloring - real mango, strawberry, pineapple and other fruits, it’s healthy.

LE: If you were in charge, what would you do to bring in Hispanic fans?

Cruz: If I was in charge, I’d find out who the leagues are and where they’re located and I’d contact every owner of a league and find out when and where their playoff or big games are, meet with them, and give  free tickets, 100-200 tickets. Get closer with the community, with the guys who really love soccer. The Revolution should go to the places where Hispanic guys play, the ones who love soccer, especially winter indoor soccer. They should work with all indoor groups, show up and try to motivate them for summer.

They could say there’s a special discount and because they came, the next game will be half the price or you can have a hot dog free or drink free. And one day [for Hispanics to meet] the players, that’s what they’d really like. But the [Revolution players] need to go directly to the community, to the places where the guys play, I know a lot of them don’t have the time because they are big players, but in winter time, that’s the time they should get closer with every single amateur league because it’s growing and it keeps growing. Those guys will come, but if you come one time and if [the team] doesn't play good and plus the security guards treat you like shit, and the food is no good then you don’t feel like you’re supporting a team you want to support. You say, ‘I’m wasting my time here,’ even if the tickets are cheap.

LE: SuperLiga had a low draw this year. How do you explain that?

Cruz: This time was worse than two years ago. Then there were a lot of Mexican mariachis outside in the parking lot. The Revolution organization, I don’t know who's in charge, need to try to work with the community, they’re not doing well, honestly they don’t work with the Hispanic community.

LE: Why didn't you just combine with the existing supporters' goup, the Midnight Riders?

Cruz: We celebrate ourselves. The funny thing is the other group, the Midnight Riders, came up to us and celebrated with us when we started. They said, 'Why don’t you sign up for the Midnight Riders? We cheer for the same group.' But the thing is we’re going to create a group with all ethnicities and celebrate in our own way. We talked to the guys from Midnight Riders and we’re going to stick together, we’re working together. We sing together, we teach them a couple songs.

Soccer is for Latin and European people, it’s in your blood, it’s something that comes with you. I don’t know why, but it’s there. That’s one reason I created La Barra because I want the Latin people together here and we need more Hispanic players here so we can scream and yell. We need more players to unite and show that we're a complete community, not a little tiny one. But sometimes if they don’t feel like they’re heard, they’ll just give up and let it go. But I don’t give up, I’m still working with La Barra Latina, I try to keep supporting, put announcements on the radio for every game.

Listen to Spanish language Boston-area radio show Futbol on 90.45: Mon 7:30, Sat 8:30. Jose El Patojo host.

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