Chasing a ball is already taking a toll on my niece's health at age seventeen. But that doesn't stop her. Nothing stops her, least of all, her parents, who do not seem to have noticed that soccer owns their family now. For ten years their life has been one continuous soccer season. When the scholastic season is over, the private leagues begin.
Outdoor soccer goes indoors in the winter.
They and millions of other parents spend their weekends in lawn chairs at the edges of playing fields across the country. In the past presidential election, pundits speculated about what Soccer Mom thought about the issues and the candidates. Soccer Mom thinks about nothing but soccer, near as I can tell. She can tell you all about the league, the sectionals, the regionals, the semifinals, and the finals, and never once notice that you have sunk into a drooling stupor. Do Mom, and the dreaded Cheerleading Mom.