Immigrating to the America, keeping my culture
Screaming his lungs out “Forza Milan!!!” in a pub while watching a Union European Football Association (UEFA) Champions League game, Massimo Cibelli has never lost his passion for his first love team, Associazione Calcio Milan (AC Milan).
His parents were immigrants, born in Southern Italy while Massimo was born in Los Angeles, California. Like all immigrants, there were changes to make and changes to become accustomed to. For “Mass” as his friends know him, he would come across the American franchises of sports which notably did not include soccer or ‘football’ (more widely known by Europeans). He grew up in the States and while sports came and went, it was still football which caught his eye, attention, and later on became his passion rather than American sports which had taken the back seat.
In the world today, football is known as “The World’s Game” being played all over the globe, it has one of the biggest followings in terms of fan support. Like American sports such as American football and basketball, in Europe and South America, football is culture. In households, families pick teams they support and sometimes they all choose the same team while some other family members choose their rivals. Immigrating to the States, Massimo’s rival to his beloved football would be the American sports. Those however, would not have a bearing on which culture he’d follow from his family. Massimo said: “American sports such as baseball, basketball, football are a comedy act compared to soccer. They provide only to America, a selfish act in itself. Their fans are boring, players are dull, and culture is dead. American sports mean nothing to me, and it will remain that way for the rest of my life."
The culture in American sports isn’t all too different from that found in football in other cultures. Americans tailgate, paint their faces, create chants, put stickers on their cars, etc. In Europe though, the culture is seemingly fiercer than its American counterparts. Flares are sometimes lit in Italian Serie A matches (Italian football league), riots, and fan violence do occur. One look at the stadiums in some parts of Europe and the U.S and it is clear seeing the difference. Some stadiums in Europe have fencing that separates the fans from throwing objects onto the field as it does occur from time to time. What makes football interesting amongst other sports Massimo said: “Soccer is life to most people, the reason why they are alive. From the announcers to fans, celebrations to riots, soccer provides the world with life, love, passion, get-togethers, parties, training, losing your voice after the game, etc... It has more to offer than any other sport. There’s pride for your country, there’s pride for your city and there is pride for your club. There’s also the tremendous passion of the fans.” He continued, “I believe that soccer is the centre of the universe. It brings nations together in masses and is the highest selling sport in the world, I am excited for it each step I take. Soccer is my life.”
His friend Alessandro Memar, a half-Italian half-Persian, born in the States as well but, to immigrant parents also believes in similar philosophies to Massimo’s. “Football unities everybody around the globe.”
Although he was born in Los Angeles, California, Massimo knew what the football culture was like and even recalled something from his native Italy. He said; “If you walk out there with an AC Milan jersey down the streets, you’ll get beat up.” remembering what it’d be like walking into the wrong part of the city with the wrong jersey. His younger brother, Carlo had chose to support the local football club, Società Sportiva Calcio Napoli or more simply known as Napoli. His whole family had chosen SS Napoli while it was only Massimo and one of his cousins which had supported Milan. Within a family, football was also culture and it was this culture that was passed to him even though his family had immigrated to America.
Introduced to AC Milan in 1993 by his cousin, he was intrigued by the heroes of Milan who had helped them to great success of previous decades. “I was fascinated over Marco Van Basten, Patrick Kluivert, Ruud Gulit and their wins.” Marco Van Basten, known to be one of football’s wizards while at his peak, his career ended prematurely but still, gave Milan some great success. At one point, Patrick Kluivert was one of the best strikers in Europe while Ruud Gulit was a great midfielder. Another thing that interested Massimo in Milan was their colors, chants, and even as he notes “magic.” To fans across Europe, football is more than a team to some. “I think of soccer 95% of the time I breathe. Without it, I would be empty and lost. With it, I am complete.”
A unique change that immigration brought upon Massimo is when he and his friends gather to watch matches. Normally fans stick to themselves and their respective teams. Immigrating to the States, since there were few fans here and there, Italians who supported different teams, some of them fierce rivals would meet to watch matches together, something that wouldn’t be commonly seen in Italy. Some of his friends support teams in other leagues across Europe yet it is their passion for football which brings them together amidst immigration. What immigration did was bring footballing fans together in a place where football is a minority sport. Massimo can’t get enough of the game. “Every free moment I have, I’ll try and watch a game. If I’m not watching, I’m reading it on the internet, going to official websites like espn.com or uefa.com” He said.
On matchdays he goes to pubs to watch matches with fellow fans. The pub he watches at, White Harte on Ventura Boulevard, have loyal fan base of Englishmen and Italians who’ve come over and immigrated to the States and still keeps with their culture. Alessandro said: “Soccer’s a great sport because anyone can play it. You don’t have to be tall or anything like in basketball etc. where most players have to be.” Alessandro said.
The United States currently has a league in football known as ‘Major League Soccer’ (MLS). Finally, the football culture Massimo had remembered, known, loved and followed from his native Italy was now coming to the U.S. Although MLS isn’t as successful as the leagues in Europe in terms of fan base and marketing, it is still in its infancy and competing against the likes of basketball, American football, ice hockey and baseball. Massimo said: “Football in the United States is very underdeveloped. I don’t have a favorite team.” MLS has a long way to go before it catches up to a respectable standard as that found in Europe or even South America. Right now, amongst other football lovers, MLS is still widely being developed and needs progress before success. Alessandro widely agrees as well though he noted that “I don’t support MLS as passionately as my own teams but, I do follow the Los Angeles Galaxy every so often.” Trying to bridge the gap between American MLS and football in Europe he continued to explain, “There’s no history in MLS. The passion isn’t really there or doesn’t even compare to that in Europe.”
Immigration brings about many changes to those who come from one country and move onto the next. Culture however doesn’t necessarily change even when the individual is brought up in an alien environment, they may still pertain to what they feel is their homeland. The culture of sports never had a bearing on Massimo’s decision about how he’d want to identify himself. Even though he was born in the United States, Massimo still maintained a unique European culture to him and one day he even hopes to teach the same culture among his own kids. Massimo said, “I hope to pass on the passion I have for soccer to my kids. I am excited for this to happen.”
