Soccer’s Democratic Promise Depends on Who Gets to Play
At an Aspen Ideas Festival session tied to the Aspen Institute and LACMA’s “Why We Play” project, Tom Farrey framed soccer as civic infrastructure: a game that can shape identity, trust, diplomacy, gender opportunity and economic life. Carolyn Blodgett, Betsey Stevenson and Glenn Kaino extended the case, arguing that those benefits do not flow from soccer automatically. They depend on the institutions around the game — schools, fields, transport, Title IX, team culture and affordability — and can disappear when access is captured by families able to pay for it.
The Aspen Institute·Jun 29, 2026·18 min read
