Stephen Prendergast
Posted: Wednesday, September 12, 2012 7:05 pm

Editor David Keyes with the inaugural issue of XI at O'Brien's Pub

Soccer News: New Soccer Quarterly XI Debuts in San Diego

Tuesday, September 11, was a big day for American soccer, especially in San Diego. Not only did the U.S. Men’s National Team defeat Jamaica 1-0 to move back to the top of their group in CONCACAF qualifying play for the 2014 FIFA World Cup, the new soccer quarterly XI debuted at O’Brien’s Pub, to the delight of fans of the game.

XI is a sharp, well written magazine that features eleven articles focused on a single theme. The magazine bills itself as a “North American soccer quarterly,” and covers both soccer in North America and North American players overseas. For the inaugural issue the editors, Tom Dunmore and David Keyes, chose “immigration” as the focus. As Keyes explained, “I think immigration is central to explaining soccer, especially in the U.S. but also throughout North America.”

“We both have seen how central immigration has been to soccer,” he said, speaking also for the Chicago-based Dunmore, who is originally from England, “be it in terms of how soccer was largely not accepted for many years in the U.S. or just in terms of the [U.S. Men’s National Team]. A number of those players are children of immigrants.”

Keyes comes at the topic of soccer on several levels. Growing up in Ohio, he was a huge fan of the game but was frustrated that it was difficult to get much news, especially international. That all changed with the growth of the Internet. “That brought in tons of coverage,” he pointed out, “and that was great for a fan like me because you could get news and scores from all around the world.”

His love for the game translated later into a major focus of study as he began graduate studies at UC San Diego in Social Anthropology. Currently, along with writing for and editing XI, Keyes is researching the role that AYSO played in helping to popularize soccer, particularly in the Los Angeles area. Some of that research went into his article, “Americanizing an Ethnic Game” in this first edition.

“Basically my research looks at how soccer [grew] from the 1960s on,” Keyes said. “Before that it was only in immigrant communities, and I’m interested in how soccer moved out of the immigrant communities. I think in order to do that, AYSO played a particularly important role, at least in Los Angeles.”

“[AYSO] played an important role in redefining the game so that it was seen as less foreign and more attractive to parents who then signed their kids up in huge numbers from the 1960s to the present,” Keyes explained.

Before joining forces to create XI, both Keyes and Dunmore wrote blogs about the game. “I had a blog called ‘The Culture of Soccer,’” said Keyes, “and he had a blog called “Pitch Invasion” that did the more in-depth stories and social analysis through soccer.” A year ago the two decided to pool their energy to create the new magazine. With $15,000 star-up funding through a Kickstarter campaign, the pair were able to make their dream happen.

The first issue of XI is filled with a wide variety of pieces on the impact that immigration has had on soccer in North America, including the U.S., Canada and Mexico. Jeff Kassouf, who is very familiar to followers of the game, wrote “Crossing Borders” on the impact Mexican-American players have had on the Mexican Women’s National Team. “Cruyff’s American Journey,” by Leander Schaerlaeckens and Pieter van Os, tells of the mutual impact that the great Johann Cruyff’s time in the NASL had on both player and league.

“We have a story about Canada’s Montreal Impact (‘La Conquete Commence’ by Elizabeth Contignola) and how their marketing strategy is related to Quebecois nationalism,” said Keyes.

American Outlaw members Todd Dolan (L) and Jeff White (C) join editor David Keyes in perusing the first issue of XI

Reading XI, you realize that this is not just another soccer magazine. The goal for both Keyes and Dunmore is to get to those in-depth stories that pull the curtain away and let readers see the stories behind the headlines. Readers can learn about how Jean-Marie “Danny” Mwanga, a forward for the Portland Timbers and the Number 1 choice in the 2010 MLS Draft, illustrates the relationship between immigration and soccer in North America in “Making It in America” by Andrew Guest.

In “Truth, Crushed to Earth, Shall Rise Again” you find out about the soccer program at Howard University, which author Dunmore calls “the country’s most successful soccer program at a predominantly black college.” Many of the school’s top athletes have been foreign-born students from Africa and the Caribbean.

While the world seems to be going more toward the digital, Keyes and Dunmore, along with London-based graphic designer Liam Murtaugh, saw traditional print as the perfect medium. “It’s kind of funny that we’re going backwards, in a sense, in having a print edition,” Keyes admitted. “But we really feel this is the best way to consume those long-form in-depth stories.”

Discussing the magazine’s place in a digital-focused world, Keyes said, “While at this point you can get so much news [from the Internet], what we’re really trying to go for is the in-depth stories and the real quality. Just those stories behind the headlines.”

XI is not yet available in stores, being sold currently through their website, but Keyes said that this could change in the future. Right now the main focus both he and Dunmore is being able to bring these stories to the public, which he concedes is a considerable amount of work as it is.

This journal is well worth ordering, and from now until the end of the month XI has a special offer for readers of SoccerNation. Through September 30, readers can use the coupon "soccernation" to get 10% off any subscription at the XI website.