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Allison Metts
UWRT 1101
Professor Grant
24 November 2014
Pickup Soccer
As a member of the pickup soccer community at the University of North Carolina at
Charlotte, I decided to look deeper into what makes pickup soccer a discourse community. In
order to fully understand the game I needed to observe, not only as a member but also from an
outsiders point-of-view. As I was observing I used Swales six characteristics of a discourse
community and Ann Johns opinions on a discourse community, to discover why pickup soccer
was a discourse community.
The obvious goal to any game is to win, to achieve victory and beat your component.
That being said, yes, a goal to pickup soccer is for your team to win. The aspect of winning
might be the most important thing to some peoples eyes, but there is so much more depth to
pickup soccer then winning. For some, they are member of the community to make friends while
playing the game that they love. Will Toledo, a player and member of the community, was nice
enough to share his thoughts about pickup soccer. I enjoy playing pickup soccer because it
gives me the opportunity to play the game without the pressures of a club game or conference
game. On the other hand pickup soccer is enjoyed by people who want to stay in shape. Alex
Bierrenbach, another member of the community, says I enjoy pickup soccer because it keeps me
in shape and its the closest thing to the level I played at in high school. These are just a few of
the common goals in pickup soccer.

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Along with having common goals, there is also a specific lexis and way of
communication. How do players know when and where to meet up for a game of pickup? A vital
part of a discourse community is the way members communicate with each other. I usually text
my friends asking them when and where they want to meet up for a game (Will). As you can
see texting is the prime way of communicating between the members. Now, it would be
interesting and slightly scary to see the players try to text while playing soccer notifying them
that theyre open for a pass, it just doesnt happen. The players use verbal communication on the
field. The players use lingo such as, Im open or man on. For those of you that dont know,
man on simply means that there is a member of the opposing team that is dangerously close
and has the potential to take the ball. Communicating on and off the field allows the members to
play the game successfully and to be notified of any details regarding when and where to play
pickup.
John Swales also talks about the experts and beginners in a discourse community. When
it comes to pickup soccer there is an array of talent. Some being completely awesome and makes
you want to run from embarrassment. Then there are the people who are really new to the
community and to the game of soccer, in fact they might not have even played the game before.
People who would be considered beginners are the ones who have never touched the ball
before. Experts are people that are good enough to play soccer at a collegiate level (Alex). Then
there are the people who are in between experts and beginners. The experts often introduce the
beginners to the game and invite them to play.
Ann Johns describes that within a discourse community there is often a question of
authority. In pickup soccer there arent any referees, which can be a benefit and an unfortunate
aspect. There are often a lot of guys that play pickup soccer, which means theres a lot of

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testosterone. When theres a lot of testosterone in a competitive environment it can lead to
disaster. When asked if there were any issues with pickup Alex said The only issue with playing
is that some guys get angry if theyre losing or gets fouled. It sometimes leads to fights. As you
can see, the guys often think they have authority or believe they always know whats best. Then
when things dont go the way as planned then they take the situation into their own hands. Its
unfortunate that a good game can lead to something violent. But there are employees at the
facility that do a great job at handling the situation and creating a safe environment for everyone.
Ann John also talks about multiliteracies being involved in a discourse community.
Multiliteracies has to do with the many different talents within the community. The most obvious
multiliteracy has to do with the positions of the game. The easiest way to explain this is to
describe the four main positions, midfield, defense, offense, and goalkeeper. When it comes to
being an offender, you need to be good at shooting and finishing. Offense is the main person the
team looks at to get the goals. In order to be the midfielder, you need to have good field vision
and be the play maker. Midfielders initiate the plays and make the plays happen, theyre the
connection between offense and defense. In order to be a defender you need to be aggressive but
smart. You need to be able to read the plays of the other team and defend the goal. Goalkeepers
need to be literate in hand-eye coordination.
Its obvious that there are a lot of aspects to a discourse community. All of these
characteristics describe why pickup soccer is a discourse community. But over everything pickup
soccer provides everyone with a feeling of belonging. When I looked deeper into the aspects of
pickup soccer I noticed that not only was pickup soccer a game that brought people together.
Pickup soccer brought cultures together. There were so many different types of people. People
who practice different religions, comes from a different country, and a different race. There are a

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lot of characteristics that create this community. But these characteristics combine cultures and
create a discourse community.

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Citations:
Bierrenbach, Alex. Personal Interview. November 12th.
Toledo, Will. Personal Interview. November 12th.