Vissel Kobe vs Cerezo Osaka, J.League, November 22, 2019.
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1 year ago today, I started
@footballcasestudy .
I fell in love with football playing at Fortunado Field in Montclair, New Jersey, with my friends under the sweltering summer sun. It was for everyone—all genders, backgrounds, and skill levels. Anyone from any town could join, and I looked forward to meeting and playing with new friends every day. Football has taught me lessons about friendship, ethnicity, religion, and, most importantly, humility.
My purpose in life is to share this beautiful game with the world—to as many people that will listen and even to those who won’t. Football is who I am, and until I can bring a smile to everyone’s face, my job is not done.
I’ve seen entire cities turn upside down when their team wins the cup. I’ve seen a stadium of 60,000 silenced at a last-minute winner from the away team. I’ve seen kids with nothing to their name play football on dirt roads in quiet villages with the biggest smiles on their face. A few weeks back, I had a conversation with
@zackygoldman , and something he said really stuck out to me. “Football is a vehicle for people’s dignity”. He’s absolutely right. There is so much more to football than meets the eye. This is why I seek football in places few and far between, because exploring these unshakable connections between life and football is deep in my heart. I am committed to documenting these stories with integrity, respect, and a deep appreciation for the cultures and communities that make football our beautiful game.
I started the Football Case Study because I was exhausted from jumping through hoops to photograph the football cultures that lacked a voice. I was tired of pouring my heart out to people who were significantly less passionate about the game than I was. Something needed to change. I knew I had to create a platform for people like me- the passionate lovers of football who live and breathe the game and those who seek to understand the world through the lens of the beautiful game.
I’ve always seen football as something you give to, not take from, and Football Case Study is my contribution to the beautiful game.
