In my country football, or soccer as it is also called, is mainly a sport for boys but, globally speaking, football is today played mostly by women.
This is perhaps the most sensational trend of the last twenty years when it comes to sport and it came as news to me as well.
The driving force behind this process was for sure the take off of women's football in North America first, especially at the school level but it is now spreading to other countries, first and foremost here in England.
But what is a soccer mom?
They are mothers who drive their daughters to the football practice and they have now become a cultural phenomenon, as well as a political target in many cases.
Watching them during a football match is a lot of fun.
In Italy, there is no such phenomenon.
But in the United Kingdom, it's not just about cheering or encouraging your daughter to score, but it's a real meeting, with rituals and common interests.
Being a soccer mom means belonging to a social class.
These are women usually in their 40s, with a teenage daughter (at least, and maybe other younger ones in tow) who go to watch football matches in school tournaments and meet other soccer moms in the evenings.
Some of them claim this activity is a real job, they meet in the evening to talk about football and cheer on the sidelines, but discreetly.
But the term soccer mom is not limited to that.
All moms who run around like busy bees are called soccer moms.
It defines a busy mom who drives her kids around all day to activities, even when these activities do not include football.
If you ask one of these moms about her children's extracurricular activities, she will recite you a sort of shopping list of sports and hobbies: from swimming to fencing, skiing, football but also music, theatre, dance…
Unfortunately, the driving force behind this does not come from children, but from parents.
They want super-committed children to be competitive in the society of merit, they wish them to become highly competitive.
Although I like the society of merit and I’m for having children doing sports and being committed in extra curricula activities rather than wasting time, I think at times children are overwhelmed by so many activities and they may do a lot without focusing on anything.
I have no competence to give a worthy opinion on this matter, but I have read an article about how in England the majority of the children have extracurricular activities which keep them busy five days a week, on top of their homework and this would result in a steep decrease in time spent together with their family therefore leading to a worsening of relationships between parents and children.
I do believe that children should have more free time to spend playing and building relationship with their peers.
Having to run from and to so many activities I think they may feel crushed by the amount of commitments organised by their parents not grasping the pleasure and value of boredom and idleness.
The child who is too busy wastes his most precious time: the time to know himself and others.
Perhaps less activities and more creativity?
