Eric E. Hernandez
ANTH 105 Section 50083
August 15, 2016
Ethnographic Project- Final Essay
For the ethnographic project that was assigned I chose to observe a group of about 20-30
children, both boys and girls that fell in the age group of 8-14 years of age. They play soccer and
train twice a week in the Joe Balderrama Park of Oceanside, CA. What I decided to research
was, did the children practicing at the park affect the community around them even though the
community was not participating at all. My hypothesis was that although the people in the area
didn’t know the children of their parents, they would pay attention to what the children were
doing. I realized that there were instances in which the children were noticed, but the people in
the area were not distracted from what they were doing by what was going on. As time
progressed however, the people that were regulars at the park definitely started paying attention.
Whether it was the form of training or just the dedication that these young children practiced
with, they were starting to grab the attention of everyone in the community.
I decide to choose children because when it comes to sports, the dedication and
determination that children have towards the sport when they start, shape in how dedicated and
determined they will be towards the sport in the future. The park is called Joe Balderrama, and
although it is located in a neighborhood plagued with gang violence, there are always children
and adults using it. I figured that since the violence had gone down, it would be a good place to
see how the community came together after all the violence had diminished. The particular sport
of soccer was chosen due to how familiar I am with it. I have not just played the sport, but have
also coached and trained myself. To be honest I did not find much research conducted in regards
to the effect of children on a community through an activity, so it was difficult to decide whether
I was headed in the right direction or not. Furthermore, it made the observations more interesting
because I was not trying to follow a certain pattern or method, and was able to make decisions in
regards to what was relevant.
The children practiced two to four times a week. The practices were divided into age
groups and skill level. Every child in that team had different ways of playing and as mentioned
earlier a different skill level. However, that did not stop the coach and made sure that the players
played in positions that complimented each other. I was at the park usually 2 times a week from
5:30pm to 8:30pm which was the times the practice took place. I was there every week because I
