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Link to original content: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/05/nyregion/soccer-migrants-corona-queens.html
Immigrants Find Fun and Community at Queens Soccer Fields - The New York Times
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A tree is growing in the. middle of a soccer pitch. Players dribble nearby.
One of the fields has a tree growing in the middle of it, but players manage to dribble around it.
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On Queens Soccer Fields, Immigrants Find Each Other and a Sense of Home

For generations of immigrants, Sunday soccer at Flushing Meadows Corona Park is more than a game.

Photographs and Text by Raúl Vilchis

Leer en español

Ender Mora arrived at the soccer field in Flushing Meadows Corona Park one Sunday afternoon with a couple of new Venezuelan friends who had gotten off a bus at Port Authority four hours earlier, after a journey from the Texas border.

The two 20-year-olds had no socks, wore only thin jackets and looked confused and exhausted. While waiting for his turn on the field, Mr. Mora, wearing his soccer uniform, busied himself bringing them bottles of water, sandwiches and warmer coats.

“I know they just arrived, but I thought it was important for them to see this,” Mr. Mora said, “so that they could get to know all our people here.”

ImageTwo men in red jerseys grapple over a soccer ball on a field covered in snow.
No matter the weather or season, players gather in Corona for soccer games.

For decades, the field in Corona, Queens, in the shadow of the borough landmark the Unisphere, has been home to numerous soccer leagues of mostly Latin American immigrants. The teams are loosely organized around national identity. The latest team to join their ranks, called La Vinotinto, is all Venezuelans.

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José Estuardo is originally from Guatemala. Many players arrive on the scooters they use for delivery work.

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