Summary
Chapter 14: The Fifteens Fight
The new Under Fifteens team had talent, but they were still new to playing all together. After two normal practices, Luma decided to challenge the team by having them scrimmage against the Under Seventeens. She wanted to see them matched against a better team to prepare them and herself for what it would be like going into their first official game. She was especially worried that Mandela would not be able to keep his cool now that both of his close friends, Prince and Fornatee, were off the team. Fornatee actually showed up to the scrimmage, but Luma told him to go away, though she conceded that she would talk to him after the game.
The game began. The Under Fifteens were determined and got the ball right away, but one of the new players missed a shot and soon the Under Seventeens had their first goal. Just before the first half ended, the Under Fifteens scored a goal to tie up the game, and Luma told them during halftime that they were outplaying the older kids. The Under Seventeens got serious in the second half, playing a tough and well-organized game. At one point, an older player knocked Kanue to the ground, and Kanue was angered to see that Luma did not foul him. Kanue retaliated by sliding into the player's ankles with his cleats, and the coach told him to take a lap. In the end, the Under Seventeens won 3-2. Coach Luma told the Under Fifteens that they played pretty well, but warned Kanue that he would be off the team if he lost his temper again.
After the game, Luma headed over to hear out Fornatee's case. However, both Prince and Fornatee had watched the game and then left, so he was officially off the team. She had also been thinking negatively about the dusty, crowded field the team still had to use. The next day, Luma asked Mayor Swaney to let the Fugees use Armistead Field, a much greener and more private location. She pointed out that her soccer program did not cost the city anything, and it was keeping refugee kids off the streets. Swaney told Luma to take her case to the Clarkston City Council.
Chapter 15: Go Fugees!
Luma was so worried on the day of the new Under Fifteens' first game that she threw up. Luma arrived early at the field and was relieved when she saw the full roster of players arrive on time on the YMCA bus. Kanue led the team through warm-ups. The team the Fugees would be playing against was the AFC Lightning. They were mostly white, middle-class players; the players were big, their coach loud, and they came with family and friends to form a crowd on the sideline.
The AFC Lightning team scored the first goal, but Mandela scored the next one to tie the game up. Sebajden scored another to make the game 2-1 at halftime. Luma encouraged the team at halftime, telling them to keep up the good work, warning that the team would be marking Mandela in the second half, and then sending them back into the game with renewed energy. Mandela got a yellow card, but then focused and scored another goal. The Fugees started to tire as the second half went on, and the AFC Lightning team got another goal, but Mandela also scored again to make the game 4-2. In the final minutes, the AFC Lightning team brought the game to 4-3, but the Fugees were able to keep their lead until the end of the game. The Fugees were joyful and Coach Luma was relieved and impressed.
Chapter 16: Gunshots
One Sunday morning, gunshots could be heard near Indian Creek Elementary. Tito, a player on the Under Fifteens Fugees team, and some other Liberians had gotten into a fight with an African American boy who was in a local gang. The American kid pulled out a gun and shot Tito in the face. The boy's mother tried to clean up the crime scene before the police arrived, but eyewitnesses confirmed the story. Tito was lucky and would survive, but with damage to his jaw. Luma was shaken by the incident and what it would mean for her team. She feared that gang members could show up to the Fugees' practice, knowing Tito was on the team, and the occurrence made the field behind Indian Creek Elementary seem even less suitable for practices. After this, she felt even more strongly that she needed the City Council to let her team use a better field.
Chapter 17: The "Soccer People"
On the first Tuesday in October, Luma went before the Clarkston City Council to ask that the Fugees be allowed to practice at Armistead Field. She explained how unsuitable the field behind the elementary school was, that she would always be at practice to supervise, and that the team was only boys. Mayor Swaney spoke up, urging the members of the Council to let Luma and the Fugees use the field for a trial period. The motion passed unanimously.
Chapter 18: Playing on Grass
Soon after, Luma gathered the Under Thirteens team and Under Fifteens team separately to have meetings about the dangers of gangs. She asked them why people joined gangs and what made the Fugees different from a gang. She did a demonstration using Kanue, offering him an iPod if he carried something for her, showing how gangs used simple yet dangerous tasks to test out new members. The team discussed ways to turn down offers to join gangs and what to do if you get beat up by a gang. At the same meetings, Luma also announced that the Fugees would be practicing on a new field. The field was grassy and private, much nicer than their old field, but they would have to be extremely respectful to the space or else they and everyone else wouldn't get to use it for soccer any more.
Analysis
Gangs and gang violence is an important theme in this section of Outcasts United. A gang is a form of community, which the young boys seek after losing their homes, families, friends, and culture. However, Luma shows them how the Fugees can be a better community than a gang, which puts them in danger. She encourages them to rise above even physical violence, and the talk seems to give the Fugees some confidence. However, she does recognize that some changes need to be made logistically to keep the players out of harm's way as she has promised their parents. The shooting makes her even more passionate about securing a better practice space for her team.
Luma's dealings with Mayor Swaney and the Clarkston City Council in this part of the book show how institutionalized racism and xenophobia have the potential to negatively affect refugees in the localities where they are placed based on the resources supposedly available. Though there is a perfect field that the Fugees could use for soccer practice, the Clarkston City Council is hesitant to give them access because of their stereotypes about foreigners' tendencies toward violence and mess. Luma is able to convince them, likely because of her high level of English and education, but the Council revokes the privileges she gets during this meeting without any explanation later in the book.
When the boys see the new field they will be practicing on, they are filled with childlike wonder. The field seems to symbolize America to them. When Bien first saw the field behind Indian Creek Elementary, he reportedly thought "Wow... it's like Africa" (72). In parallel, when the Fugees see a herd of deer wander near Armistead field during one of their first practices, one boy cautions another that "We're not in Africa anymore" (153).
Through her coaching, Luma teaches the Fugees not to retaliate when people show aggression toward them. Though many of the boys have quick tempers and have to deal with discrimination and bullying in and outside of school, on the soccer field Luma makes it very clear that their goal is to not get yellow or red cards, no matter what the other person has done. This is shown in this section when an Under Seventeens player knocks Kanue to the ground during a scrimmage. Kanue gets mad at the player and mad at Luma for not calling him out, so he retaliates by sliding into the player with his cleats. Luma makes Kanue run a lap as punishment and warns him after the game that he will be kicked off the team if he cannot keep calm. Through this experience, Luma gives Kanue a lesson on something that might happen during a real season game and reminds him to channel any negative emotions toward playing better.
When the mother of the American boy who shot Tito tries to clean up the crime scene, it underscores the motif of mothers in the story. St. John gives the backstory of many of the mothers of Fugees players and shows the sacrifices they have made before and after coming to the United States to keep their children safe. Even Luma serves as a proxy mother to many of the players. However, this incident shows that parents can also go too far or make the wrong decisions when trying to protect their children.
