ABSTRACT
The Basque people of northern Spain and southern France have formed sizeable diasporas across the world, particularly the American continent, as a result of migration over the past 200 years. Wherever they settled, Basques formed communities of ethnic solidarity, mutual aid, and cultural maintenance. The Boise Basques of Idaho are a thriving example of diasporic formation. Basque identity is omnipresent in Boise through Basque restaurants and businesses, cultural and educational institutions, and famously the Jaialdi festival, which has become one of the state's most successful ethnic festivals. Football is an emergent site through which Basque Americans assert their Basqueness. Athletic Bilbao, a historical club in the first division of Spanish Liga based in the Basque homeland, has a loud following in Boise, with an official fan club (peña) and institutional relationships that culminated in the team's first US visit and friendly match at the 2015 Jaialdi festival. This chapter recounts the efforts to stage the first Basque Soccer Friendly in Boise while considering how football generally, and support for Athletic Bilbao specifically, facilitate the connection between Boise Basques and their counterparts in the Basque country.
