From Bogota to Queens: La Cancha Arena is home away from home

New York Times

22-07-2025

This article is part of our Finding Fútbol series, a special feature produced by The Athletic to chronicle how the U.S.'s Hispanic communities celebrate and enrich the beautiful game.
QUEENS, N.Y. – After the final whistle blew and Independiente Santa Fe were crowned campeones de Colombia, their fans were plunged into a joyous delirium.
Whether due to the weight of 10 minutes of stoppage time or the near decade since the team's last Categoria Primera A title, the moment brought fans to their knees as they screamed in celebration. With their fists in the air, chaos erupted around them.
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Strangers ran into each other's arms, as families embraced one another in disbelief. Some teary-eyed fans stood still, soaking it all in, their rolled-up sleeves revealing the Santa Fe crests tattooed on them like a captain's armband.
Sounds of cumbia villera filled the air, as cold beer fell from the sky.
It was like these fans were inside El Atanasio, too, but this electric crowd was far from it.
This crowd of about 400 strong was some 2,400 miles away at La Cancha Arena, a sports lounge that opened four months ago in Long Island City, Queens. On this warm night in June, the venue, known for its full-sized pitch and giant screen, transformed into a refuge for Santafereños in New York, in what's becoming a buzzing hub for futboleros.
La Cancha Arena is the culmination of a 24-year-old teenage dream.
Iván Ricardo Contreras, one of five partners running the business, had just graduated high school in the early 2000s when his family decided to move from Bogota, Colombia, to Queens. It was a tough transition, but soccer kept him grounded.
'One of the main factors that made me actually get used to this country was continuing to play soccer,' Contreras told The Athletic. 'So, I always had soccer in my blood, and I said, 'You know what? I want to be able to have my own field (one day).''
That desire, born from pick-up with strangers in Flushing Meadows Corona Park, stayed with Contreras for two decades. After a career as a community organizer, he transitioned into the restaurant industry – first as a manager before working his way up to owner. Four years ago, he started looking for a place to fulfill his dream, eventually zeroing in on a property on Northern Boulevard.
From the outside in, the property looks like an unassuming storefront on the outskirts of Long Island City, tucked between car dealerships and a few blocks from residential homes and the diverse storefronts that line Broadway. The space was likely destined to become another dealership, until Contreras and his four business partners swooped in. Their group is mostly a family affair, with four of their five partners related.
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Together, they transformed this empty showroom into a space that centers around an indoor five-a-side soccer pitch. Since opening in March, the group has been building a family-friendly community around soccer, while paying homage to their roots.
The pitch, adorned with Colombian flags, is surrounded by netting and sits beneath a giant screen where matches are streamed, like the recent Apertura final that drew hundreds. Behind the pitch, there's a colorful mural of soccer legends – like Colombia's Carlos Valderrama and James Rodríguez, Argentina's Lionel Messi and Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo – and a portrayal of Diego Maradona's Hand of God goal.
The venue is a multipurpose space, as indicated by its name. La Cancha for its pitch, and Arena for music or performance venue. The owners hope to diversify their reach by booking talent from other backgrounds, like recent Puerto Rican or Dominican artists. The space has hosted live shows and concerts, and can host parties, like the high school graduation set up on a recent Friday afternoon. Guests can rent the field to play or enter one of their hosted tournaments, which offer cash prizes for winners.
The vibe of the space is intentionally casual. Contreras and Andrés Felipe Mosquera, his cousin and business partner, described the concept as el tercer tiempo or 'the third half.' Guests can play soccer, which has a first and second half. The third half is when guests stay to enjoy some food or drinks with their friends or families.
'This is not like a high-end table and chairs,' Mosquera says, pointing to the colorful tables around the space. 'We want people to feel like they are in the neighborhood.'
The venue has some obvious features, too, like a full bar, asado grill, extra seating, TV screens and a dressing room. There's also a DJ booth overlooking the pitch, which is covered when needed for additional seating. The DJ switches between sound from the game, salsa and cumbia. On that recent match day for Santa Fe's win against Medellin, the pitch was draped in trapos from the barras bravas, banners or flags from fan groups.
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These fan groups can be local, too, with Contreras sharing he's been in touch with NYCFC's official supporters group to host a watch party for a future away game. By 2027, the MLS side's new stadium is expected to open just five miles down the road, which may offer even more opportunities for potential collaborations.
While the pitch is the center of everything here, owners want the business to be rooted in Colombian heritage, too.
'When we have this space and we have the opportunity to actually build something from Colombia,' Contreras said, 'we didn't doubt it.'
The venue features two traditional Colombian games, tejo and bolirana. Both games require concentration and skill, with the latter a target game where you throw small balls or tokens at a board with holes. Tejo is considered Colombia's national sport.
La Cancha Arena boasts that its tejo setup is the only one in New York City. The game is popular in Bogota, where Contreras and his family are from, and was a significant ingredient in their business model's recipe for success. The game is housed in a cage and involves throwing tejos (metal pucks) at a target embedded in clay. The goal is to land the tejos on mechas, small triangular packets of gunpowder that explode when hit.
The venue also sells traditional petacos, curated directly from Colombia. Petacos are cases that hold 30 beers and are common in Colombia, especially when playing tejo. If you look closely at La Cancha Arena's logo, it features an outline of a petaco with five stars representing each business partner.
Every detail together establishes the unique identity of La Cancha Arena, whose main purpose is to create community. The hope is to attract Colombians and fans from other backgrounds, so they can feel as close to the sport and their teams as possible.
'What's spectacular about this place,' Contreras says, 'it's like they're going to the field. They start jumping in a soccer field (so) that they feel, even though they're far from their country, Colombia, and they want to be in the stadium, right here it's like they're approaching (closer) to their team.'
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'It's like they want to feel the sensation,' Mosquera adds. 'They want to pretend they are watching the game in a real field. So, they are watching the game on a big screen. They are playing all the drums and all that stuff. They are wearing the jerseys. Everyone is sitting all together. They pretend they are in the stadium.'
That feeling of being a part of something bigger than themselves was evident a few weeks ago, when Santa Fe fans erupted with joy inside La Cancha Arena.
When Santa Fe defeated Medellin 2-1 at El Atanasio, the energy inside the stadium could be felt through the screen. Santa Fe was the away team that night and considered the tournament's underdog. But you wouldn't have guessed it by the energy in Long Island City. If the fans inside the stadium were the team's 12th man, then the fans inside La Cancha Arena were its honorary No. 13.
When Santa Fe captain Hugo Rodallega scored the game-winning goal in the 79th minute, before coming off for injury, there were an agonizing 10 minutes of regular time remaining, followed by 10 more minutes of stoppage time before fans could celebrate.
There were tears. There was joy. There was relief. As one fan said, suffering is part of it.
After the final whistle, there's a young boy who takes his jersey off and begins twirling it above his head like the older men around him. Fans inside La Cancha Arena are video calling relatives, showing them the scenes they're living in real time. You can smell the red flare set off outside, as the celebrations burst at the seams.
It did not matter to Santafereños that they were thousands of miles from home. For them, on this night, Santa Fe was in Queens.
'Soccer is always there,' Contreras says, reflecting on his journey to this moment.
'It's part of our lives. It's part of our culture,' Mosquera says. 'For South Americans, that's something that is part of our soul. It's part of our life. That's something you cannot get away from us.'
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