Vacant Lots as a Resource for a More Inclusive Soccer in Mar del Plata, Argentina

Abstract

Previous research has shown a severe process of exclusion and abandonment in one of the most important children’s and youth soccer leagues in Argentina, the Mar del Plata Soccer League (LMF). The number of female players is extremely low compared to the number of male players, there are no tournaments for people with disabilities, and every year more than a thousand male adolescent players have to stop playing federated soccer simply because there are no places where they can play, even if they want to. To reverse such a process of exclusion, the LMF needs, in principle, more playing and training spaces. Vacant lots in relatively peripheral urban areas, close to the training grounds of LMF clubs, may count as a possible solution to this lack of space. This research reports on vacant lots in a key area west of the city of Mar del Plata. This area is just over twelve square kilometers in size and is home to ten LMF club training fields (more than a third of the total). Based on the analysis of basic empirical evidence, maps were designed and elementary estimates were also made. The potential solution provided by the availability of vacant lots would require cooperative and very plausible work between civil society, the soccer league and government institutions.