‘It means a lot to us’ -Hispanic influence helps indoor soccer have rapid growth - Oklahoma City

When Luis Hernandez moved from Mexico to Oklahoma City 14 years ago, there weren’t many other Hispanics to play soccer with. Standing inside OKC Indoor Soccer Arena on a recent Monday night, the 29-year-old construction worker couldn’t help but marvel at how times have changed.

“Now, there’s a ton of Mexicans,” Hernandez said. “We’re even seeing an increase in players from countries like Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras.”

With the rapidly growing Hispanic population in Oklahoma — the Oklahoma City Hispanic Chamber of Commerce estimates more than 300,000 Hispanics now live in the state — soccer business is booming at OKC Indoor Soccer Arena (ISA), a division of Let’s Play Sports; and Hat Trick Indoor Soccer Center, Oklahoma City’s two major indoor facilities. At ISA, manager Will Lutz estimates that 50 percent of his players — out of 300 teams — are Hispanic. When he took over 24 years ago, that number was less than 10 percent. At Hat Trick, owner Rasool Faily has 35 to 40 Hispanic teams that play on Sunday evenings alone — his biggest night of the week.”*

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