Men’s Soccer Team Protests Injustice
Photo provided by Rodney Kasey.
Racial injustice was a topic discussed often in May 2020 and for several months after following the murder of African American George Floyd by white police officer Derek Chauvin during an arrest in Minneapolis, MN. It’s a topic the Bluefield University men’s soccer team wants to keep in the forefront, and to continue to increase awareness of the need to address racial injustice, the men’s soccer team is silently protesting during each of its games this season.
Immediately prior to the kickoff of each game, members of the team are kneeling on the field for several seconds. Play is halted and even members of the opposing team are joining in the symbolic protest against racial injustice.
“Before the season started, me and my co-captain Devin Calloway discussed how we can show support,” said men’s soccer player Axel Johansson, “and we decided that this was the best way of doing it.”
The team first kneeled during a scrimmage game at home against Concord University prior to the start of the regular season.
“Yeah, I take our team culture very seriously,” said Jake Mendoza about participating in the protest. “It is important for us to unite as a team on and off the field. I know every single one of my teammates supports each other. Kneeling before the games shows the unity within our team and shows that we want to bring awareness to a nationwide issue.”
The players have continued to kneel every game since, both home and away. The demonstration they said is something they had been wanting to do for a long time.
“We had wanted to bring awareness to racial injustice last year, but with the shortened season and dealing with COVID we didn’t have a chance to come up with the best way to do it,” Calloway said. “The Premier League in England has done the kneeling right before kicking off since the season started back up, and that’s where we took the idea from. We felt it was the best way for us to bring awareness to the situation.”
Protesting racial injustice is not new to Bluefield University athletes. The men’s basketball team brought not only local, but national attention to the issue in February of this year when it kneeled during the national anthem for several games. Team members were suspended for a game and had to forfeit the contest after the BU administration advised them they could kneel or protest at some other time or in some other way, but not during the national anthem.
“It is important for us to support each other outside soccer,” added Johansson, a senior from Javrebyn, Sweden. “For me, it is impossible to understand what some of my teammates are going through on a daily basis, but I think it is important to show support and solidarity.”
