A home away from home: football and the street in a South African township

Abstract

rassroots football in Soweto is peculiar – played in public, but suspended in ideas of confined protection. Physically situated in the midst of treacherous streets, but understood through concepts of safety and security. In a desire to navigate life in the precarious conditions of the South African township, young footballers lean on authoritative structures, as well as being caught in them, in a search for identity, and in an effort to draw a much-needed demarcation line between wholesome activity and unwanted conduct. From a ground up perspective, I pose new questions relating to how the conceptualization of local football structures activity, coordinates social control and offers a framework for a desired dependency in the urban, Global South.