A Discourse community is a group of people that share common goals and values. They can range to anything from clubs, going to school, playing a sport, etc. These communities can be small or big and can have sub communities within them. There are a few requirements for something to be considered a discourse community. In Writing about Writing, Swales states these requirements being, a community must shared goals, intercommunication, must have a specific type of lexis, different levels of expertise, and they must have “horizons of expectation” to be able to be considered a discourse community(Swales 569). For this paper, I have chosen to focus on Soccer’s community and mainly focus on its traits such as its jargon, goals, intercommunication, and the way strategies are played out. Soccer can be described as a non-dominant secondary Discourse. In James Gee’s work on linguistics, he describes not only what a Discourse is, but what other categories an individual’s Discourse or various discourses may fall into. Some discourses are broad while others fall into specific categories. Soccer isn’t labeled as a dominant discourse, but as a non-dominant. Non-dominant Discourses are described as “solidarity with a particular social network, but not wider status and social goods in the society at large.” (Gee 8). as While researching this discourse community, I asked myself, “How does teamwork and good communication lead to improved or good overall performance?”

Intercommunications

To understand this community better, I interviewed a player of our school’s varsity team. I asked about the way they communicate inside and outside of games. To I found that the main way for their communication is through group chats. In there, they’d set dates for practices, matches, and starting XI. Soccer also has different forms of communication within the community. For example, during games, they’ll use a handful of terms that outsiders may not understand. In games they’ll be things like offsides, offside traps, hat-tricks, a switch, etc. Derick told me that in games they use short phrases such as “Switch” to indicate a pass to another player. This can be used to create space and opportunities for the team to score a goal. while talking to my cousin, he said “there is also this wordless communication one can have with their team after playing together for a while”(Gabriel). After a good amount of playtime with the same team, you can know their habits and erase the need of having to communicate verbally or even through signals. This need isn’t totally gone, there are always variables in a game of 22 players, not everything will be the same. They may also be hand signs in these games called by the referee. An outsider wouldn’t normally know what any of them mean, mostly only the experienced fans and the players/coaches themselves. For example, a referee could raise his hand in different ways to indicate a direct or indirect free kick.

Goals

            The main goal of soccer is to be victorious and score more goals than the opponent, but beyond this there is also teamwork and the aspect of fun. Many play simply for fun and to get closer to people. Speaking from personal experience, I’ve played in a lot of organized small teams simply for the fun of it. To me win or lose did not matter, I just wanted to play. The more I played with the same people, I could get a better feel for their playstyle and play better around said players. Since these teams weren’t permanent, I’d often play with different people. There are also many strategies involved in scoring more goals in soccer. These strategies involve positioning, aim, and overall dribbling skills. With good dribbling you could easily get past many defenders. With good positioning, you’re open to passes from your teammates; you’re allowing yourself  more space with good positioning and opening your team for more options and goal scoring opportunities. Aim is also very crucial for goal scoring and assisting. With good aim, you can avoid handing the ball to the opposing team, scoring balls top bin, and even give very good crosses. For example, in Barcelona’s match against Atletico Madrid-at minute 20:35-you can see Pau Cubarsi score a header after receiving a cross from a corner kick. His position allowed him to easily tap the ball in. The kicker’s aim and vision also can’t be disregarded, if it weren’t for him this goal couldn’t have been possible. “Having a good relationship with your team is important, how do you expect to receive passes and make good plays with people who dislike you?”(Gabriel). Having a good relationship with your team is also a big goal and part of soccer. Sour feelings for each other can turn into pettiness in the field and this can heavily impact team performance. Even if you’re wide open for a pass, a teammate might choose not to pass you the ball out of pure spite towards you. Making sure to not be a greedy player and being kind to the people around you could be solutions to solve problems like these within a team. Each situation is different and requires different measures.

Membership

            There are several levels of membership in soccer. These range from fans to insiders at the professional level. Casual fans may only know basic rules, and a few popular players such as Lamine Yamal and Raphinha but lack knowledge of tactics in the game. These types of members may occasionally watch the matches of their favorite club. There’re also passionate fans who consistently watch the games of their chosen club, and even games of other clubs whenever they get the chance. These people generally have good knowledge of ball and know many of the players from several clubs. I consider myself one of these fans; I follow Real Madrid consistently and have a few Jerseys of the team. The insiders of soccer include people who currently play the sport in a competitive setting, retired players, and coaches. These people have a lot of in-depth knowledge on the game and are very familiar with tactics and strategizing for the team. Within the insiders, there are ones who have been in the game for longer periods of time. For example, someone like Pau Cubarsi wouldn’t have as much experience with their team and coach as the likes of Messi. The level of experience also plays into performance of the team, if there’s a new player who has been recently signed, he might not be used to his teammates and potential different position being started in. A good example of this would be Kylian Mbappé; he had it rough at the start of his season with Real Madrid. While he usually played a LW, he was started as a Forward and his struggle with his new team was noticeable. As the season went on and he got more playtime with his team, his performance improved immensely. Most notably in Real Madrid’s recent match against Manchester city, where Mbappé demonstrated a monster performance and got a hat-trick.

Conclusion

            These levels of communication and membership play a huge role in the overall process and performance of a team. The more honed these things are, the better will be the team’s performance in matches. It keeps players and fans involved with their community and help each other achieve a common goal. Having good relations with your coaches and team members is very important for overall team chemistry and performance. There is also a variety of jargon used within the community that help keep things short, give tactical commands, and other things to describe the game. Language actively shapes the teams and individual players during and off matches. Goals and the want for victory allow the players to stay consistent in their training on and off season. People don’t want to lose, they want to win.

Work Cited

Gee, James Paul. “Literacy, Discourse, and Linguistics.” 5th edition, Writing about Writing,

Edited by Elizabeth Wardle and Doug Downs, Bedford/St Martin’s, 2023, 541-557.

Swales, John. “Reflections on the Concept of Discourse Community.” 5th edition, Writing about Writing, edited by Elizabeth Wardle and Doug Downs, Bedford/St Martin’s, 2023, 558- 573.

Paul Gardner. “The Simplest Game: The Intelligent Fan’s Guide to the World of Soccer”

Edited by Macmillan General Reference, 1996

SoccerAmerica. “Soccer Terms Glossary”

Edited by Paul Kennedy and Mike Woitalla

Derick, Gabriel. Personal Interview. February 21, 2025