From the Vault, Vol. 1: “An Imported Sport, Soccer Gets New Glossy Magazines in the U.S.,” New York Times, 12/29/2013

This first edition of our monthly series reprising stories I’ve had the good fortune to write over the years was chosen for several reasons. 

(And I say “good fortune” because the vast majority of my stories in decades of freelance writing have been my ideas, not assignments – so I’ve always depended on the green light from an editor  to see them published!) 

First, the story – “An imported sport, soccer gets new glossy magazines in the U.S.” – is  a good example of our wide-ranging notion of “the culture surrounding soccer.” This New York Times piece came about when I noticed in late 2013 that there were two U.S.-made, glossy magazines on the sport about to debut. Then, curious, I found a third. Photos, art and writing about soccer as part of the culture surrounding soccer.

As the story’s original headline suggests, I thought the arrival of these magazines was interesting as an expression of U.S. soccer adopting traditions common elsewhere in the world, where millions are used to reading about the game. 

Also, this Times piece is about people who basically set out to do the same thing we’re doing: telling stories about fútbol! (The huge difference in difficulty is duly noted between sustaining a project printed on paper and launching a digital magazine: unfortunately, both Howler and 8 by 8 magazines haven’t survived.) 

Also like us, they were hoping the quadrennial world football festival that is the World Cup would draw interest to their publications.

One of the editors I interviewed said “soccer fans have been ignored by the U.S. press.” We feel the same way about followers of the beautiful game and the Atlanta-area press: there’s many stories being left untold, including highly local stories about nonprofessional and semi-professional teams and the people associated with them, as well as stories about how people in the Atlanta metro area connect to the game in general. 

We hope you help us tell them, by following along and supporting us however you can!