How lesbian women are transforming soccer in Uruguay

Natalia ‘Natu’ Seoane representing Lésbica Futurista in a game in the Women’s Soccer Sevens amateur league organized by LVH events in Montevideo, Uruguay. Photo © Victoria Velazco.

Opinion • Adriana Cesar • December 5, 2024 • Leer en castellano

Soccer matches are divided into halves, with a break between the first and the second to recharge. In the Lésbica Futurista (Futurist Lesbians) collective, we turn that logic upside down: we play not only the first two halves but also a third. 

The third half is what we call the time after the game when we sit down, chat and have a beer, which is a tradition in most amateur soccer teams. We talk about how the game went, what worked and what didn’t. But in our case, as lesbian women, the topics always go beyond soccer.

This is what led me into conversation with Natalia ‘Natu’ Seoane, Vera Sawchuk and Macarena ‘Maca’ Richieri, a discussion that spanned the three years we’ve known each other. Together, we travel to all different neighbourhoods of Montevideo, and play on all kinds of fields. We meet on the grass, but we come together as a collective off the field.

Tired of the struggle

We are women from different generations, with different backgrounds and interests, but there are three things that bring us together: soccer, our sexuality, and a desire to be in healthy and friendly spaces. Since we were little, most of us understood that we were not welcome in all spaces. We were not allowed to play, jump, or climb trees. We were forced to wear dresses, skirts and sit with our legs crossed. Playing soccer has always been a struggle for space. Our experiences allowed us to understand that it is not about competing for space, but about creating our own.

We first met on a soccer team organized by an institution that promoted sports for LGBTQIA+ people. Although the team was created by and for queer folks, it did not open up a space with the respect and support we needed. We faced patriarchal dynamics, and found ourselves oppressed yet again.

In mid-2022 we organized to travel to the diversity games in Argentina. We decided to create merch to sell and raise funds, that’s how @LésbicaFuturista.uy was born. 

Back then, in the third half, we listened to and vibed with the song Lésbica Futurista by Brazilian singer GA31. The song is an affirmation of lesbian identity that speaks of resistance and pleasure, conveys freedom and self-confidence, and reflects what we want for ourselves. That’s why we borrowed the song title, Futuristic Lesbian. For us, using this name is a political act.

In 2023, we got tired of competing and decided to create the Lesbica Futurista collective. We became self-managed. We formed a team and designed a crest for the jerseys we wear during matches. Beyond the jerseys, which we wore in the streets, we took our political intentions to the field. Every time we participate in a match wearing our jerseys we are fighting for a different kind of soccer: one without violence, that respects our bodies and our comradeship above all else.

On the field, we take care of each other

Over the past two years, we’ve achieved things and taken on challenges we never thought possible. We try to be as horizontal as possible, we believe in everyone's potential, and that each of us can teach something to one another.

This year we decided to organize small feminist and [sexual and gender] dissident soccer matches in neighborhoods outside of central Montevideo. When we have the chance to connect outside the game, we reflect on how patriarchal violence intersects our lives, on and off the field. We named our tournament On the field we take care of each other, which is exactly this message that we want to transmit.

We sometimes participate in tournaments with other teams, which are often managed by men. We also find women's soccer can reproduce the logic of men's soccer. We have suffered different forms of violence while playing, from physical attacks to derogatory insults towards us, in reference to our sexuality.

It is a shame this type of behavior continues within women's soccer, because it impedes the healthy development of the sport, and causes many to stop playing. Even when the players are women, the reproduction of patriarchal logic continues.

Illustration by Adriana Cesar as part of the visual identity of the On the field we take care of each other feminist soccer tournament.

At first all we wanted was to generate our own safe space, but now we’re thinking beyond that. “At one point we needed to create our own space, a safe space, and we managed to do that. We created that and I feel like it's like a space, like saying... Yeah! I feel at home, in a safe space and we’re looking after each other, supporting each other, and trying to learn together,” said Sawchuk. “That's just great. And then little by little, we’ve tried to go farther.”

This movement outward implies rethinking dynamics of competition and how we can generate safe spaces for our compas who are not in the collective, but who nevertheless want to engage with a different kind of soccer.

Weaving games and knowledge

In 2023, we participated in Tejido Feminista Montevideo, an articulation of collectives that organize the March 8 march, for the first time. In this space we learned a lot about collective dynamics, and exchanged knowledge and experiences. We held our first pikadito [informal pick-up game] before the march, which was beautiful.

Last year was very important for women's soccer, because it was a World Cup year. Uruguay was not in the competition, but the atmosphere surrounding it was tangible. The Women’s World Cup brought up issues and debates about the differences between women's and men's soccer, in Uruguay, professional women’s players began to organize for their rights. They held demonstrations and protests on the field to demand better working conditions.

Around then we got in touch with Monica Santino, one of the leaders of the Argentine collective La Nuestra Fútbol Feminista, who invited us to Buenos Aires to take part in the pride march. While we were there we participated in a pikadito that they set up. We played, and exchanged ideas.

We’ve kept in touch, and this year we took part in the gathering of women's soccer players in Buenos Aires prior to the 37th Plurinational Meeting of Women, Lesbians, Trans, Transvestites, Bisexuals, Intersex and Non-Binary people in San Salvador de Jujuy.

Exchanges with other collectives nourish us, and have become a catalyst for our ideas and projects. We translate many of the situations we experience in our lives into the language of soccer. “It’s so important to watch your back, when you play soccer you are watching your partner's back and you are saying right, left”, as Seoane reminds us. “And I think life is a little bit like that, having our backs among friends and compañeras and guiding each other”.

Recently, we hosted the Chilean collective Jugada Colectiva in Montevideo. We shared moments of reflection and enjoyment, for all of us, playing soccer is a form of resistance. We talked about the importance of building a different kind of soccer, from a feminist perspective. In Chile, Jugada Colectiva set up their own feminist championship when they got tired of participating in championships organized by men. 

As Lesbica Futurista we would love to do the same. We started with the On the field we take care of each other tournament, and we want to do more. There are some difficulties in Uruguay, mainly because there are fewer people, but that doesn’t mean we don’t have the same strength and desire to transform it all.