Game for Change

Soccer Dads

file:///Users/openlabuser/soccer%20dads.html

For this project I chose to tell as story of the not-so-talked-about social issue I call "Soccer Dads." This refers to those parents, dads or moms, that begin to become so involved with their child's extracurricular activity that they almost seem to forget their child altogether and use these events as a means to relive their childhood or just add a stimulus to their dull adult lifes. It has a bit of a Disney Channel Original Movie feel to it but I believe that it is a real problem, and maybe the kids are learning to chase their dreams from these motion pictures, but the parents sure aren't learning to back off. 

I had a minimal dose of "Soccer Dad" syndrome in my childhood as I was put into multiple extracurriculars: cheer, ballet, soccer, basketball, tennis, and drama. Ultimately I found my passion was in the theatre arts, and I pursued that all the way through my senior year of high school. My parents were very supportive of that decision and made sure to come to all my shows and cheer me on. However there were instances in my life were that "Soccer Dad" effect came into play. When I was in my elementary ages I participated in the AYSO soccer league (all of the kids in my family played soccer and my dad coached all of their teams, except mine, but thats a side issue). I was young and so found pleasure in running around in circle occasionally kicking a ball and elbowing other girls in the face. As I got a little older in the following years I slowly began to lose interest and found myself dancing on the field or picking daisies. It was then that my mom signed me up for a community theatre workshop and I found my passion. The "Soccer Dad" syndrome often times caught hold of my dad and he would yell at me to "pay attention" and "stop goofing off." My younger brother Kai was a much better player than me and so my dad found an outlet for his soccer enthusiasm and luckily I was let off the hook. Many years later another instance occurred with signs of the "Soccer Dad" syndrome when I decided to choose performing in a play over being on the JV tennis team. My dad had trained with me for months in order to prepare me for the tennis team tryouts, and I made it! But when I found out it was the same time as rehearsals for a play I was a ensemble member for, I went with the theatre option. For a long time he gave me a lot of grief about that decision, and it is not an absurd thing. "Soccer Dads" are not horrible people with no motives: they often want whats best for their children and are using their personal judgment to decide that. 

I am hoping to bring awareness to those parents that do not see a slight error in their methods of pushing their kids too far in something they do not want to do. Becoming too involved in the sport of it rather than being weary of how their kids are feeling. I am reminded of the movie Kicking and Screaming in which Will Ferrel's character takes the "Soccer Dad" issue to a whole new level of crazy, and gives no respect to the kids on the field. In the video "A Single Story" the speaker warns the audience of only listening to one side or one story about a certain place or people. I hope that we will not ONLY heed to the story of "obey thy parents" and give some attention to the kids and their needs.