At only 22 years old, the Chicago Fire Football Club is fairly new. It’s a baby league amongst other sports teams that have hundreds of years of unpacking to do. There’s still time to address concerns, to undo the wrongdoings, and to improve the league to make it its own. For Chicago Fire supporters like Meredith Miklasz and Jake Payne, that’s exactly what they are set out to do.
“I’m very femme,” Miklasz says. “I like wearing a lot of makeup. I like wearing tight-fitting clothing. I love cleavage. I love booty shorts. I love being hot and I love feeling hot. Obviously, the misogynists and also women within our community with internalized misogyny don’t like that. I get a lot of flack, I get a lot of side-eyes, and I get a lot of judgment.” As a joke, Miklasz made a joke on Twitter about creating the Plastics, and after a few friends encouraged her to do it, she decided to deep dive into the supporters’ group with cofounder and Salt Lake fan Katherine Tucker, who is based in Utah.
The Plastics is also seeking to address a concern of Monterrey Security, a private firm that polices the stadiums, which has been a huge issue for many folks who visit Fire games. Monterrey has been used at Soldier Field, Lollapalooza, Lincoln Park Zoo, Shedd Aquarium, the Village of Rosemont, and various other locations. According to the Sun-Times, Monterrey Security employs off-duty cops looking for extra income. Monterrey has been accused of ghost-payrolling, overbilling, and having unqualified guards. As a result, they lost their contract with the Minnesota Vikings at the U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis. And in 2017, 23-year-old Donnell Burns was killed after a Monterrey guard kneeled on his neck outside of a Walmart. A solution proposed by the Plastics to avoid any issues with the security team is enacting sensitivity training so that the guards can protect the fans instead of hurting them.
In one of the demands, the Black Fires mention including a diversity and inclusion officer for the team. What does that look like? Payne explains over e-mail, “That’s an ongoing conversation,” but essentially, the club will appoint an individual to “hold the team accountable on its diversity and community outreach internally.” Payne says, “It’s way different than us doing it, we can only keep an eye on so much.” And because the Black Fires are made up of fans and supporters, they aren’t seeing what’s going on inside of the locker room. The diversity and inclusion officer would be paid to enforce initiatives and work towards eradicating racial injustice within the league. Other demands include community-led workshops, creating coaching opportunities for Black players, expanding recruiting Fire Jrs on the south and west sides, book programs, recognizing Black History Month and Juneteenth, plus various other Black-centric community initiatives.
Before the pandemic, Black Fires were working towards establishing watch parties for soccer supporters with a Juneteenth party and clothing drives, and by inviting more folks to come out to the Fire and Red Stars games. The Black Fires host an annual event during Black History Month, and this year they held a panel discussion with current and former players at Some Like It Black in Bronzeville. For the future, the supporter group has a long-standing dream of utilizing a bus or a shuttle leaving from a south- or west-side bar and arriving at a Red Stars or Fire game. Moreover, they are looking into becoming more involved with youth soccer and fundraising. “We’re always trying to work on something that will help Black fans see this amazing sport and also feel like they have a place in it as well,” says Payne.
