March 2018 - Parks & Recreation - 40

Alex Romero NEEF

SOCIAL EQUITY

NEEF Day in the Park 2017 at
Rio de Los Angeles State Park.

'Creating Good Citizens'
Dreamers, DACA and immigrants use parks, schools, soccer and sports to build community
By Robert García

D

reamers from Anahuak Youth Sports Association and The City Project
have been coming together to use soccer as an organizing tool for healthy
active living along the L.A. River and beyond since 2000. They've helped
lead community agitation for Río de Los Angeles State Park, L.A. State
Historic Park, Sonia Sotomayor Learning Academies and River revitalization. They
continue the fight against green displacement.
Not Just a Game
Raul Macías, a successful businessman
and owner of a textile factory, knew
neighborhood children had no place
to play. He got a few of them together, paid for their uniforms, shoes, balls,
coaches and fields, and formed a soccer team. The team soon grew from 20
players to thousands of students and
their families and friends, who now
make up the Anahuak league. The
league is named in honor of an Aztec
place of land and water.
Working with civil rights lawyers and

38

Parks & Recreation

organizers from The City Project, Anahuak began holding leadership training
workshops at coaches' meetings. Players, coaches, families and friends began
speaking out, in English and Spanish, at
public hearings and submitting written
comments about various issues to government agencies. " Anahuak, " Macías
says, " is not about creating good soccer
players. Anahuak is about creating good
citizens. " Today, when elected officials
want to meet with their constituents, they
attend Anahuak tournaments and coaches' meetings. " People think I just snap

| M A R C H 2 0 1 8 | W W W. PA R K S A N D R E C R E AT I O N . O R G

my fingers and hundreds of people come
out, " Macías points out. " No. This is our
work: We do organizing to unite people. "
Our Stories
Paco Serrano has been assistant director of Anahuak for years. He received
his first driver's license in 2015 under
a new state law providing licenses for
undocumented residents. Gil Cedillo,
who wrote the law when he served in
the state assembly, now serves on the
city council. Anahuak and their home
park are in his community.
The license freed Paco to drive without fear of being arrested for driving
without a license, to buy his own car
and to get insurance. Paco drives players whose families don't have cars of
their own to Anahuak tournaments.
Dayana Molina is a Dreamer. She



March 2018 - Parks & Recreation

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