Philadelphia
Sergey Sokolov
America’s birthplace gets to host the world as the nation celebrates its 250th birthday. Few cities in the United States are as renowned for their passion of their sport fandom as Philadelphia, home of the Eagles, Phillies, 76ers, Flyers, and the Union, not to mention Rocky Balboa. Philadelphia is also the historic home of the iconic Army-Navy game in America’s own version of football, and the Relays that take place each year in the university founded by Ben Franklin are a magnet to runners from around the world. Our ASU documentarian Yana Pashaeva relished diving into the lore of Philly’s sports scene to reveal how it creates and reinforces a shared identity, and social cohesion, among the city’s residents, transcending all their differences.
Soccer has had to fight for attention in Philadelphia’s crowded sports landscape, and the city was passed over when FIFA last hosted a World Cup in the US. My film looks at the people and communities who built soccer culture in Philadelphia long before it became a World Cup city — from immigrant clubs in the 1960s to Major League Soccer’s Philadelphia Union, its passionate supporters, and the next generation of players coming up through local colleges and academies. For Philadelphia, the World Cup is not only a milestone for its soccer community, but a moment of global recognition for a city that often feels it doesn’t get its due.
Yana Pashaeva Philadelphia Great Cities Fellow; ASU Documentarian