Michaela Mello
SOC 316: Research Methods
Field Observations
Group 3
Field Observation of UMass Dartmouth Men's Soccer
Direct Observations
For this field observation, I attended the UMass Dartmouth's Men's Soccer team game
against Rhode Island College on Saturday, September 20 at noon. The game was played on the
football field. Upon arriving at the game, I noticed that there were many other athletic events
taking place that day, including track meets, cross country meets, and other sports practices.
When I arrived at the field, I noticed that the game was free to attend, there were no tickets to
purchase, and there was no security around. When finding a seat, I observed that there were
probably one hundred to two hundred people in attendance, however, most people at the game
seemed to be the family members' of the soccer teams, rather than the other students at the
university. Of the students that were in attendance, most seemed to stand behind the goal, rather
than sitting in the bleachers. Most students also seemed to be having private conversations,
occasionally cheering on the team when a good play occurred. Most of the time, when the game
was not very intense, the students seemed to not be paying as much attention to the action of the
game.
When I went to sit in the bleachers, I noticed that most people seemed to be the family
members of those on the team. The parents seemed to attend many games, as some were sitting
on padded seats and seemed to be familiar with the surroundings. Younger siblings of the
players were seen holding posters with names and numbers in support. Most of the parents
seemed to be intent on watching every play of the game, which contrasted from what I observed
with the students. There did not seem to be side conversations, as the attention seemed to be
solely focused on the game and the parents were watching how their sons were playing. Another
interesting distinction between the parents and the students was the differences in how the
students and the parents supported their team. The students seemed to be more encouraging of
the players, while the parents were more critical of the referees and the officiating. Upon certain
plays, either positive or negative, the students in attendance would always cheer something
positive and encouraging to the players. I did not hear any negativity towards the players from
the students at this game. The parents, however, upon certain negative plays, would yell and
criticize the referees and their calls. One father even jumped out of his seat and asked if the
referee was blind. Although there was negativity and yelling from the parents, there was no
offensive language used, swearing, or negative comments about the players, only the referees.
One thing that I thought was notable about the students was that there were a group of
three males, who seemed to be students, standing near the sidelines. There were two ball girls on
the sideline where the men were standing. While watching the game, the men would
continuously call out to the ball girls, who also seemed to be students, making comments about
their bodies, how they ran when they went to get the ball, and whistled at them. The two groups
did not seem to know each other, and the two girls ignored the comments made towards them.
The general environment of the game was typically not noisy, except for during the last
minute of the game when it was a tie, and the atmosphere seemed to get very intense, especially
from the players. After the game finished in a tie, most students seemed to leave the game and
not wait for the game to go into overtime. Only parents and family members seemed to stay for
the duration of the two overtime periods that were played.
The players on the field interacted very much with each other and their coaches, however
they did not interact with anyone in attendance at the game. The players seemed solely focused
on the game at hand, and many of the players gave others direction of where they wanted the ball
to go or what play they wanted to be performed. The most vocal player on the team seemed to
be the goalie, as he was directing everything on the field, like a coach. The coaches were vocal
with the players, but they did not yell or become intense until the last few minutes of the game
when it was in a tie. At this point the coaches became louder and more aggressive. The players
also became more aggressive with the other team as well. During the last few minutes of the
game, the players were also more vocal with the referees about their calls and seemed to be more
upset when calls did not go their way.
An interesting scene that I observed was that many of the players for UMass Dartmouth
not only spoke to each other in English, but also in Portuguese and in Spanish. The coaches only
communicated in English, as well as the referees and the spectators.
Each team's bench and coaches were side by side on one side of the field. There was a
set of bleachers behind them, and on the other side of the field, there was also a set of bleachers.
Most people seemed to be sitting behind the players' benches.
High Level/ Inference Notes
There were many things that I noticed about my observations. One of the first things that
I noticed was that the soccer game was not the main focal point of the sporting events that day.
The homecoming football game was scheduled after the soccer game finished, and there were
track and field events going on at the same time as the soccer game. The game also started at
noon, making it more difficult to attend as it is right in the middle of the day and other priorities
take precedent. I also noticed that the soccer team was playing on the football field, indicating
that the soccer team does not have their own facility, as they have to share. I thought this
demonstrated that football takes top priority over soccer. I also noticed that no tickets were
collected, showing that soccer is not a sport that can make a profit.
With those in attendance, I observed that most seemed to be parents and family members,
rather than students from the school. I think that this demonstrates that soccer is not the most
popular sport on campus, as most people in attendance seemed to know a player on the team,
rather than being there just for the game or socializing with friends. I also think that due to so
many family members in attendance, most players on the soccer team must be from the
surrounding local areas or areas within easy driving distance to UMass Dartmouth, or else their
family members would not be able to be in attendance. There were also three different
languages spoken on the field, which would allude to their being diversity in ethnic backgrounds,
heritages, and linguistics on the team.
I found the behavior that I observed from the parents, players, and coaches very
interesting, as the game seemed to become most intense during the final minutes when the game
was in a tie. This demonstrated to me that the most important outcome of the game is to win,
and that the game gets most interesting and intense when it is close in score and one play could
easily result in winning or losing.