Latina Integration Through Soccer in the "New South."

The futboleras are a mixed bunch of women who range from teenagers to women in their mid-thirties with families of their own. They come from all over Latin America but most are from Mexico. The younger players were born in Siler City, North Carolina.

All over the Triangle and Triad regions of North Carolina, Latina women soccer leagues and teams are sprouting up. Hundreds of Latinas are playing soccer expanding the limits of traditional female roles and perhaps transforming the norms of femininity in their own families and their own communities. 

This article examines how three Latina players, each with different immigration statuses, broke through traditional roles in their families in order to become athletes, and how soccer has helped them to grow and become stronger and more independent.

Southeastern Geographer, Special Issue: Carolina del Norte, Geographies of Latinization in the South. Vol 51, Number 2, Summer 2011