Amateur soccer and leisure: a study about the public use of the Tietê Ecological Park

• Grant number: 10/20387-9
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants
• Start date: May 01, 2011
• End date: October 31, 2012
• Field of knowledge: Applied Social Sciences - Tourism
• Principal Investigator: Reinaldo Tadeu Boscolo Pacheco
• Grantee: Reinaldo Tadeu Boscolo Pacheco
• Host Institution: Escola de Artes, Ciências e Humanidades (EACH). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The amateur soccer involves a complex set of social relationships that are not simply a reproduction of models of professional sports. It is fundamental the understanding of amateur soccer as a leisure phenomenon in the media that seems to be an expression that takes place independently or in default of any state support, private or third sector. It shows, first of all, the struggle for the urban spaces occupation. Few studies have addressed this reality, such as Bacelar (1991), Santos (2001), Hirata (2005) e Tokuyochi (2006). The various practices derived from soccer reveal a huge range of leisure activities each with its own meaning. It's identified, therefore, that the "object" is more dynamic and more complex than previously thought. This study aims to: a) understand the meaning of football as a leisure practice in its various manifestations, b) to analyze the forms of occupation of public space by practitioners of amateur soccer, c) analyze the relations between practitioners and public spaces managers where the amateur football takes place, with particular attention to the Tietê Ecological Park. This research will involve empirical research with fieldwork in the park, through observation, semi-structured interviews and production of audiovisual material about this cultural event in the form of ethnographic document. It also involves the bibliographic and documentary research with a survey and analysis of literature from various scientific disciplines that provide the basis for research in seeking of theoretical basis for reflection about the social significance of soccer, the process of popular appropriation of public spaces, the managers' of public spaces acting as mediators of this appropriation, the relationship between sport and urban space. Moreover, this work will also include an examination of recent research and theoretical work about the soccer its importance and significance of their relationship with leisure studies, as well as multiple relationships established between soccer and leisure. (AU)