Jumping and singing with LAFCs 3252: Best L.A. fan experience Ive ever had

Publish date: 2024-05-27

LOS ANGELES — Even though I’m a huge sports fan, I had never been to a professional soccer game because I’m an American idiot.

I thought I would cross that milestone off my list by attending the U.S. women’s national team’s friendly against the Republic of Ireland at the Rose Bowl a few weeks ago. And while I was pumped to witness living legends gallop around the pitch, the exhibition game felt more like an extension of Team USA’s breezy victory tour than a continuation of its thrilling World Cup dominance. (Megan Rapinoe and Alex Morgan didn’t even play). And because it looks like it will be a while before L.A. gets a women’s pro team (seriously WTF, NWSL?). I thought I’d check out a local men’s pro team.

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My editors thought it would be funny to buy me a Fitbit and send me into the most hardcore MLS rooting section in the country and see how many steps I accrued and how many calories I torched. And while my game stats as a supporter in LAFC’s 3252 section were impressive, I did not anticipate how much fun I would have by myself with total strangers screaming songs I did not understand, spraying beer all over me and offering me terrible tequila from suspect flasks.

For the uninitiated (as I was before Wednesday night), 3252 refers to the number of safe-standing seats in the club’s diehard supporter section behind the north goal at Banc of California Stadium. The section comprises a dozen or so different supporters’ groups each with their own logos, banners and T-shirts, including Tigers Supporters Group, Expo Originals, Black Army 1850 and my group from last night simply known as The Krew.

When I asked The Krew leader Hank Marchetti if I could sit with him, he was happy to welcome me and showed me how to stand on top of the folded seats and balance against the railing. (There is no seating in the 3252 because the seats are folded and barred, and, also, the whole point is to bounce and scream and chant the whole time). Members of the 3252 arrive at the stadium 90 minutes before the match to snag their spots and to take advantage of $3 early-bird Heinekens. I would have snagged a few of those out of journalistic responsibility, but I was too terrified if I got buzzed I would fall off the railing I was balancing on.

After I took my spot on the rail, I was introduced to two female leaders of The Krew, Tati Rosalas and Sakina Perez. When I asked Marchetti how they decide who leads these groups, he told me it’s a democracy where fan devotion (i.e. sustained cheering and positivity all game long) wins the day. Rosalas, an Argentinian, gave birth to a baby boy a month ago. She was on the rail cheering LAFC to victory while she was seven months pregnant, causing many around her to question her sanity. (Rosalas seemed like a level-headed, lovely woman I would trust my infant with, so I failed to see the issue.)

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When the game began, so did the singing. A half dozen or so group leaders stand on baby cranes and lead the section in precise chants, like band leaders, and I was struck by two things: 1) They follow a setlist, like an actual band, and continue their songs even when an LAFC player scores a goal. And 2) They are not employed by LAFC like traditional cheerleaders, but simply exist because LAFC involves the 3252 in unique ways, including the selection of the music the players run out to before the game and at halftime before the second-half kickoff. As a single woman standing alone in a rowdy section, I never felt unsafe because it was so organized.

Most of the songs involved some version of screaming “L-A!” and “F-C!” over and over again. There were also a bunch of “Sha-la-las!” and “Dale dale dale, Black and Gold!” (“dale” is “Let’s go” in Spanish). A few songs required us to get low to the ground then explode upward like the song “Shout” that gets played at weddings, and my favorite song had us bouncing from side to side with our arms around each other.

A lot of Americans are baffled by soccer being the world’s most popular sport, but after Wednesday night I think I understand. The 3252 has borrowed a bunch of traditions from soccer powerhouses like Borussia Dortmund and Liverpool, and it was the first time I’ve ever experienced feeling like I was an active participant in what was happening at a sporting event, rather than just a passive spectator. Making noise for the home team’s defense on third down at a college football game might help cause a sack, but jumping and screaming and chanting in unison for 90 minutes at a soccer match might cause an earthquake.

I don’t think watching sports is always good for mental health. But tons of research has shown that group singing and chanting lowers stress, relieves anxiety, elevates endorphins and reduces feelings of loneliness.

What struck me most about the 3252 is that while they are all obviously knowledgeable soccer fans, the point of their attendance was the act of cheering along with family and friends, with victory coming second. Sometimes I would stop bouncing around to lock in on the play in front of me, only to be chided by my new friends to stay focused on what mattered most. Part of the lack of anxiety about the result has to do with confidence: With a league-leading 61 points and an undefeated home record (11-0-1), LAFC is far and away the best team in MLS this year and is a strong favorite to win the MLS Cup in just its second season of existence.

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The Black and Gold laid waste to the San Jose Earthquakes 4-0 on Wednesday. This meant that I not only got to see Carlos Vela absolutely humiliate the other side, but I also got doused with beer four times. (Some people drank beer out of their left shoe after each of Vela’s two goals. I was not one of those people.)

When the game ended, I checked my Fitbit. In the four hours I spent inside the 3252, I took 10,291 steps and burned 946 calories. I sweated through my workout clothes, made a ton of new friends and left the stadium covered in beer. It was the best L.A. fan experience I’ve ever had.

(Top photo of The 3252: Molly Knight)

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