The following is a transcript of an episode of The Vilest Rag, The Ubyssey's podcast. You can also listen to the full audio on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.
[THEME MUSIC]
Sophie Clark
This is The Vilest Rag. I'm your host, Sophie Clark, and you are listening to a podcast brought to you by The Ubyssey, UBC’s student newspaper.
[CHANTING, CHEERING]
Sophie Clark
Every four years, the FIFA Men’s World Cup takes the world by storm, forging both rivalry and unification on an international stage through the beloved sport of soccer. This year, Vancouver has had the opportunity of hosting alongside 15 other North American cities, specifically seven matches over the course of June and July. Whether it be the pedestrian-only Granville Street, or international supporters arriving in celebration, Vancouver has seen a transformation due to soccer culture, but it seems UBC’s empty campus has something to learn. Today, I’m talking to Sofia Campanholo, the Ubyssey’s deputy sports editor, who has been reporting on both the World Cup and the impact of soccer culture in Vancouver and on UBC’s campus.
[THEME MUSIC]
Sophie Clark
Hi, Sofia. How are students engaging with the World Cup on campus?
Sofia Campanholo
Well, honestly, I think students are not engaging as much for the World Cup as I thought they would be. At UBC, you basically just have The Gallery at the Nest that are showing the World Cup, you have in Westbrook Village, they have soccer in the square, and I heard that some of the first-year residences are also showing the games. But other than that, if you look at UBC, it doesn't feel like there is a World Cup going on. Most of the students that I talked about that want to watch the games are going outside of UBC. They are going to downtown, they are going to PNE. Like I said, it doesn't feel like there is anything going on at UBC. You have only the one club out of all clubs at UBC of international students, just the Mexico club, MEXSA. They're the only ones doing watch parties.
Sophie Clark
Do you think that there's a reason for that? Do you think it's because there's less students on campus than if there were to be in the winter semester?
Sofia Campanholo
Well, I do think one of the big reasons is that we are during the summer. Most of the students, when I asked them why do they think UBC is not doing much, they say it's because a lot of students are away or even students that are in Vancouver are not coming to campus because they're not taking classes. They're only taking classes once or twice a week. But, in my opinion, I still think that a university this big should be doing more in an event that is once in a lifetime.
But I also think that another reason is just that Canada is not that much of a soccer country. Same thing, if you take a look at how Canada, the U.S. and then Mexico are headlining the World Cup, it is pretty clear that in Mexico, it feels like things are bigger because they do like soccer more than in the U.S. and Canada. And still, if you take a look at UofT, I was taking a look at how things are going on there. I have a friend that studies there, and it feels like it's the same, if not worse than UBC. They also are not really caring as much about the World Cup.
Archived Recording 1
I think it would have been a good opportunity for UBC to host something, and I think it's kind of a shame that they're not taking advantage of the World Cup. But what are you gonna do? It would have been cool, like how they have the DJs and stuff to just set up a big screen in the Nest.
Sofia Campanholo
For the number of international students that UBC has, I think you would expect them to be doing more, maybe show it on the TV at the Nest, it doesn't even have to have the sound.
Sophie Clark
So which clubs and student organizations were hosting watch parties?
Sofia Campanholo
With the high number of clubs that UBC has — and I think dozens and dozens of these clubs include clubs about countries and international students — I think at least I was expecting a lot of them to be doing watch parties. I came to UBC in 2022, so when I got here, the 2022 World Cup was happening. But since it happened in November, it happened during the winter time. And most of the clubs were doing watch parties and there was a lot going on and I was expecting the same now, but surprisingly, the only club that I could actually see that was doing something was the MEXSA club, the club of Mexico. I talked to the president and she told me that one of the main reasons is also because Mexico is hosting the World Cup as well. But besides that, there's no other clubs at UBC that I am aware of that are doing watch parties. I know the Colombian association is doing a few events, but bigger events, watch parties and after-game events, they're the only ones doing it. And it is a bit disappointing because I've talked to some students that say they wished they were able to attend things in the clubs or more things at UBC, but they don't really have a choice. I talked to the Brazilian club, BRASA, and they also said they were not going to do anything. I'm Brazilian and I'm like, ‘Come on, guys, we're from Brazil. How come you're not doing anything for the World Cup?’ Which, again, is a little disappointing, but I guess there is nothing much we can do about it.
Sophie Clark
You know, UBC isn't necessarily known for its school spirit. So I was wondering if students felt more connected to one another at watch parties, because it's an international event, soccer is a huge international sport. It might foster connections between students. So is there anything we can learn from the World Cup when it comes to developing our campus culture?
Sofia Campanholo
When I talked to the president of the MEXSA club, she told me that that a lot of the people that went to her watch party events told her that they had no one to go with, or they were just happy that they could watch it with more people, because I think watching a game with other people just makes everything so much different. When I went to the soccer in the square at Wesbrook Village, which is by far the biggest thing that's happening on campus — it's not even on campus, but basically it is. Most people were in groups and you could see how much fun they were having. Most of them said they don't even care that much about soccer. They were just there for the fun. But I think this just really shows an opportunity that I think UBC is missing here. I think UBC is not taking advantage of the opportunity that they have in their hands. I don't know if someone thought about doing something, they didn't care or they didn't even consider it, or maybe they just thought that downtown and Vancouver in general was already doing a lot of things. But I think that for the people that I talked about, the people in the Mexican club, people that were in The Gallery, people that were in Wesbrook Village or even people around campus, they all talked about how great it is to watch with your friends. You could also see a lot of families together in these places, but most were just groups of friends that studied at UBC. And it's just an opportunity to get people together.
Like you said, soccer is maybe the biggest sport in the world. There is not an event like this with any other sport, and it's something that happens once every four years. You have it happening in Vancouver while we are at UBC, and it doesn't feel like that's actually happening. On the day we're recording this, you have a Canadian game that's about to happen in one hour and the campus seems normal.
Sophie Clark
Like you mentioned, there are lots of events in downtown Vancouver, like Granville Island, more central Vancouver, have these events. The World Cup being here — has this kind of contributed to a more connected atmosphere in Vancouver, or has it kind of remained the same?
Sofia Campanholo
Oh, I mean, I've been talking bad about UBC right now, but I think in Vancouver, I'm very happy with the way things are going. I think that it looks like a different town. And I've seen people complaining about the number of people we have here, but I'm like, come on, this is gonna last three weeks, you have tourists from all around the world that are in the city right now. If you go to downtown at 3 p.m. in Granville, there is going to be hundreds of people just playing soccer there, and it's something that has never happened and probably won't happen again.
And I think, actually, this also shows that Vancouver is maybe more of a soccer city that people expect. Right now with the Whitecaps, they have a lot of talk about them being sold to Las Vegas. And you can see that a lot of people are mad because you have a country that's now starting to get better in the World Cup. You have Canada for the third time ever, and second time in the world, they're in the World Cup. They just won against Qatar, six to nothing. And then you have one big men's soccer team, and people are talking about selling it. It's just very sad. Even though I also said that Canada is not as big of a soccer country, I think the World Cup is showing that maybe it is bigger than we would expect. And I really think that it's bringing a lot of people together — not only friends, not only UBC students, but the whole city together, especially in the days that there are games. I was fortunate enough to attend one game here. I went to the Egypt and New Zealand game. I've been to the BC Place before and it looked like a completely different place. It's thousands of people that travelled from literally everywhere in the world just to be in that stadium for two hours.
Sophie Clark
So other than yourself, of the students that you interviewed or your peers, were there many students able to attend matches in person?
Sofia Campanholo
No one that I talked to was able to attend matches in person. Some people said it's just because they are not interested in enough soccer, but a lot of people said that it was not affordable, it's not affordable at all. I was just able to go because I've been a soccer fan my entire life, and it was my birthday. My dad was like, a birthday gift to you! But no one that I talked to said that they were able to get tickets. And it's such a shame, because looking at the history of the World Cup, tickets are usually accessible. Not saying that they are super cheap, but if you look at Qatar's games in 2022, the cheapest tickets in some games were $50. And then you have now, that if you try to buy a ticket, it's no cheaper than $1,000. So it's very disappointing that so many people that would like to go, a lot of people that I talked to were big soccer fans and wanted to go, but they just can't afford it. Especially at UBC, we are students, we still don't have our lives figured out and we can’t afford to spend that amount of money on a game. If you're not the biggest soccer fan ever, it's kind of hard to make that happen. And it's very unfortunate, because the World Cup is not just about soccer. You don't have to like soccer to enjoy watching a game, I believe. It's very sad that nothing was done to help this. I saw in Toronto that some places were giving out tickets because they were having trouble in the beginning to sell the tickets and it's like, yeah, because it's too expensive.
[MUSIC INTERLUDE]
Sophie Clark
And for students on campus, did any of them mention what the World Cup meant to them and the importance of it?
Sofia Campanholo
Honestly, the people that I talked to during the games, the ones that were from Canada, said they didn't have the biggest connection to the World Cup. But I think basically all the international students that I talked to, they were very proud and happy to talk about the team they were cheering for. That's why I said it's kind of disappointing that UBC is not doing anything, because you have, if I'm not mistaken, the university in Canada with the biggest number of international students, and you have so many students that have cannot go back home right now. They probably wanted an opportunity to gather together and watch with people of their country as well, and they're not really able to do that, at least if they don't reach out themselves to do something. And I think UBC should be helping them with that, and it's not happening. But about the international students, they all just talked about how it's important — the World Cup — to them, especially people from South America.
Archived Recording 2
It’s part of tradition. Whether we are host countries or not, every four years for the World Cup, everybody's a football fan, like everybody. I turn into a football fan every four years. After the World Cup, don't ask me about football. So it's kind of part of a tradition that everybody follows.
Sofia Campanholo
I talked to people from Argentina, Brazil, Colombia and other countries. And people in these countries — soccer is so, so important to them. And you could see that they are happy to be here, but at the same time, they wish they could be in their home country and watch the games there, because it's a different thing.
Sophie Clark
From the students that you talked to, were most of them kind of cheering for Canada or or was it kind of a whole host of nations that they were cheering for?
Sofia Campanholo
Well, I think everyone first said, ‘Oh, I'm cheering for Canada.’ And for the people that really didn't care at all for soccer, they were like, yeah, just Canada. But you could see that first, they would say Canada, and then I'd be like, ‘Any other team or country you're cheering for?’ It felt like a spark in their eyes. ‘I'm cheering for Argentina. I'm cheering for France.’ And honestly, a lot of them, they weren't even from the countries. A lot of them were actually just from Canada, and they're doing it either because they like a player in that country or they like that country. I don't know if this is me reaching, but I also think this shows that Canada could be a bigger soccer country. A lot of people from other countries wouldn't say that they're cheering for another country to be like, just my country and that's it. Like when they're out, I'm out too. And I think that's why if Canada puts more effort into making soccer a bigger thing here, people would be having more hopes and be more proud. But honestly, I talked to a lot of these people before Canada won against Qatar, so maybe their opinions have changed now.
Sophie Clark
Can you give students recommendations for good watch parties, both on campus and off campus, so that they can feel more connected to others?
Sofia Campanholo
Well, if you're looking to watch on campus, like I said, there are not a lot of places going on. I think Westbrook Village is the best option, just because that's the one with more people. But honestly, I'm not sure how things are going there when it's not a Canada game. I don't know how many people are attending. If you want something more chill, you can go to The Gallery, but honestly, I think if you really want to have fun, you have to go off campus. The PNE FIFA Festival is a great place. I went and I was a bit scared because I saw people saying that it would be super expensive and everything, but I didn't have to pay anything to be there. Every place that are having games, they have a specific place for a festival that's made by FIFA, and the PNE right now is that place. The biggest place that is putting the game on there, if you get in before the first like 2,500 people, it's for free. I went for a Brazil game and there were a lot of people and it was super easy to get in. So you can pay to sit, but honestly, it's more fun to be standing up if you're up to it. You can sit on the floor if you want to, probably just not going to be able to watch very well. And they also have screens outside. You can just sit on the grass and watch the game as well. If you don't want to be with a big crowd of people, you can just be chilling there.
If you can, also just go to a sports bar. But what I've noticed is that if you don't make a reservation at least a couple days before the game, you're probably not going to have a place to sit, and it's going to be hard, at least for the bigger sports bars. Maybe if you go to a smaller one, it's going to be fine. But for places that are specifically showing the games like Good Co. or things like that, it's better if you make a reservation before that. If you have friends, you can also watch it at home, like make your own watch party. I think that's a good idea. You can also watch it by yourself if you are not feeling in the mood of a crowd of people, which I understand. But yeah, there are a lot of bars, there are Mangos as well, that's a Latin bar that is in the area. I'm not sure if they're showing all the games, but I know they're showing Colombia, Argentina, Brazil, Mexico games. I know Granville Island is also showing the games. I think they have some big screens there, but I've heard that it's also very, very crowded.
It's best for you to figure out if you are in the mood of a big crowd or not. It can also be fun to be in a big crowd because if there's a goal, everyone's going to be cheering, but if it's sad, then people are sad together, and I think it's better for you to be disappointed together than to be watching alone. But yeah, these are places that I can think about.
Sophie Clark
Have you or anyone you interviewed seen Team Canada practicing at the National Soccer Development Centre on campus?
Sofia Campanholo
Well, I don't know anyone that has been able to. Me and Thomas, our video editor, we have been close a couple times to record other things. But they have, I don't know if you know, but they have police everywhere. And I'm like, go team Canada, but also, how many people are actually trying to get inside the place where you have to have a police officer every one metre? It’s funny, but I understand, so I don't think anyone has been able to watch that. It would be fun. It's very cool that they're practising here in Vancouver. And especially considering that they had their last game here and they also have their next game here as well. And if I'm not mistaken, if Canada stays in first or second place, I believe, they're going to be playing here for at least one of the next rounds. So they're probably going to be continuing playing here for a while, and practicing and also playing in Vancouver, which is fun.
Sophie Clark
How meaningful is the World Cup to you as both a sports editor and a soccer fan?
Sofia Campanholo
The World Cup is very, very big to me. My dad has been to every World Cup since 2010, in South Africa. I was only six, so I wasn't able to go with him, but he brought me gifts. And ever since then, I've been crazy. And then in 2014, it was in Brazil, which is my home country, so I remember I spent my 10th anniversary at a random game — it was like Japan and Belgium. And I was like, ‘Oh, my God,’ I couldn't even watch anything, but it was still super fun. And then I went to the World Cup in 2018, in Russia, I went to 2022, Qatar, and now I was also able to go here. So I think it's just been a big tradition of me and my dad, and also, I've just been a soccer fan my entire life. I'm obsessed with the team in my hometown. I watch every single one of their games from here. Sometimes it's like 5 a.m., I'm up watching my games. Also, just being Brazilian — maybe it is stereotypical of me to say that — but almost everyone in Brazil cares about the World Cup, because we're the country that has won the most World Cups, so we have that hope to win one more.
As a sports editor, it has been so, so fun to cover these games. What happened was that FIFA contacted us to talk about media passes. They are the ones that sent us an email, and then we weren't able to get media passes, which sucks. I'm like, you reached out and now we are not able to get this. Why did you reach out in the first place? But I've been watching it online, the games, and me and Maia, another sports writer, have been covering it.
Right now, I cover the women's volleyball team, but when I first joined The Ubyssey a few years ago, I was covering just the men's soccer team. So I hope that the World Cup can also help people pay more attention to our soccer teams, both men's and women's. They're both great. They're both one of the best, if not the best, in the country for the university level. Two months ago, I had an interview with the head coach of the men's soccer team at UBC, and he talked about how sad it is that not a lot of people come to watch the games. So I really hope also that not only as someone that covers the team and works as a sports editor and writer, but also someone who goes to UBC, I really hope that this helps people pay more attention to our Thunderbirds and go to more games, or catch up and see what's going on.
Sophie Clark
Well, thank you so much, Sofia.
[THEME MUSIC]
Sophie Clark
Before we go, let's take a look at this week's stories. In News, AMS Council approves the first phases of the Food Bank and the Pit pub’s renovations, and they heard the results of the Academic Experience Survey highlighting affordability issues for students. Reporters Stephen Kosar, Maneli Moghbeli, Juan Pablo Sastoque Vega, and Thea Lee have the story on that, with photos by Aleah Kippan. In Opinion, Editor Quyen Schroeder’s column, Point of Inquiry, discusses the latest AMS Council meeting and UBC students' role in challenging and pushing for the changes they want for student life. Editor Skye Shen created the graphics for this opinion essay. In Culture, Film Critic Selina Hay reviews Prime’s latest hit show, Off Campus, filmed on our very own campus. Photos are by Aleah Kippan and video is by Thomas Favelle. In Sports, Women’s Soccer Reporter Maia Cesario covers Canada’s loss to Switzerland on the World Cup stage. You can read all of these pieces and more at ubyssey.ca, which publishes Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
[THEME MUSIC]
