Girls Wanna Play: How a Latino Soccer Club in LA Fights Despite Recent Threats

Latino USA

My Cultura, Futuro and iHeartPodcasts

Society & Culture

4.9 • 3.7K Ratings

🗓️ 8 August 2025

⏱️ 35 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Professional men’s soccer or “futbol” has always had great Latino players, but only 7% of female professional soccer players are Latinas. That’s not how things look at the Downtown LA Soccer Club. Most of the girls playing for this non-profit are Latinas and that’s intentional. The club is trying to overcome the barriers young Latinas often face: like financial burdens and gender stereotypes. In this episode, we meet their star player and her coach, as they fight for their club to remain a safe space. Their rent is up nearly four times, and some of the club’s families have been affected by the increase in ICE raids.

Latino USA is the longest-running news and culture radio program in the U.S., centering Latino stories and hosted by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Maria Hinojosa.

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0:00.0	What's up wrestling fans wrestling with Freddie is officially back.
0:10.4	We're coming in strong and yes, the home boy Jeff Dye is back to which means it's going to be hilarious.
0:16.1	We'll be talking about the storylines of the wild world of wrestling, making sense of it all from backstage segments to what's being said in the ring. If you love wrestling, whether it's AEW or WWE, and you're looking for real talk from me, who lived it, and a bird's eye view of the ultimate fan perspective with Jeff, this will be your one and only stop. Brought to you by State Farm. Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there. And here's Heather with the weather.
0:38.4	Well, it's beautiful out there, sunny and 75, almost a little chilly in the shade. Now,
0:44.4	let's get a read on the inside of your car. It is hot. You've only been parked a short time,
0:50.3	and it's already 99 degrees in there. Let's not leave children in the back seat while
0:54.8	running errands. It only takes a few minutes for their body temperatures to rise, and that could be
1:00.3	fatal. Cars get hot, fast, and can be deadly. Never leave a child in a car. A message from Nitsa and
1:06.0	the ad council. Adventure should never come with a pause button. Remember movie Pass? All the movies you wanted for just nine bucks?
1:13.4	I'm Bridget Todd, host of There Are No Girls on the Internet.
1:16.3	And this season, I'm digging into the tech stories we weren't told.
1:19.7	Starting with Stacey Spikes, the black founder of Movie Pass, who got pushed out of the company he built.
1:25.1	Everybody's trying to knock you down and it's not going to work and no one's going to like it.
1:29.7	And then boom, it's everywhere.
1:31.6	And that was that moment.
1:33.0	Listen to there are no girls on the internet on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast.
1:39.6	Futuro.
1:44.0	Dear Latino USA listener, before we start, you should know that if you want to listen to this episode, add free.
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2:02.4	So click the link in the episode description, and after you do that, then click play.
	...

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