USSF D-2 Minnesota United FC

NSC Minnesota Stars To Sponsor Screening Of 'Pelada' At Brit's Pub

Published on May 20, 2010 under U.S. Soccer Federation D-2 (USSF D-2)
Minnesota United FC News Release


BLAINE, Minn. (May 20, 2010) - The NSC Minnesota Stars will co-sponsor a screening of the soccer documentary "Pelada" at Brit's Pub at 7 p.m. on Thursday, June 10. Keeper Konnection, Schwan's USA CUP and Brit's Pub are also sponsoring the event, which will mark the film's debut in Minnesota.

Tickets for the screening are $10, and all proceeds will go to the filmmakers. The screening will be followed by a question and answer session with Gwendolyn Oxenham, one of the stars of the film. For more information and trailers of the film, visit www.pelada-movie.com.

"Pelada" follows Oxenham, a former Duke player, and Luke Boughen, a four-year Notre Dame letterman, on an international trek to play pickup soccer. The film takes its name from Brazilian "pelada," or street soccer. Brazil was one of 25 countries to which the pair traveled seeking the stories away from the floodlights and manicured fields that most people in the United States think of in conjunction with the sport.

"A lot of soccer players who have been abroad are familiar with the feeling of hopping into a game and getting accepted in a place where you were an outsider," Boughen said in an email. "It's a great feeling, and we were really just surprised no one had done it before."

Oxenham experienced the sensation first-hand the summer after she graduated from college, when as a deckhand on a boat in Mexico, she befriended local navy officers through pickup games.

"I dingied over, made kicking gestures and within an hour, I was sharing beers and goal celebrations with soldiers. The game's ability to create intimacy is at the center of our film," Oxenham said.

"Pelada" finds that intimacy in some surprising places. While Brazil stands out as a soccer hotbed, the film crew also found stories in Iran; a Kenyan slum; the shadow of the under-construction World Cup stadium in Cape Town, South Africa; and inside the walls of a Bolivian prison.

"As an American, I was always on a stepladder, always chasing the next step, always focused on competition," Oxenham said. "When my playing career was over, I had to learn what the game was supposed to be about. Seeing people all over the world who were playing for no other reason than to play was really inspiring."

Space for the screening is limited. To make reservations, please email or call Stars Media Coordinator Alex Haueter, ahaueter@nscminnesota.org or (763) 792-7333. Reservations will also be accepted at NSC Minnesota Stars home games on May 29 and June 9. Remaining tickets will also be available at the door beginning at 6 p.m. the day of the screening.

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U.S. Soccer Federation D-2 Stories from May 20, 2010


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