Page 17 - Sandy Jackman Pantai Hotel

Tales of the Original Soccer Moms

By Carol Garan

Homes weren’t very expensive and new develop-
ments were springing up all over America with afford-
able housing. It’s been a long journey since that first
soccer game.
They call us the baby boomer generation. America
was booming and families were buying homes in
newly built communities all over America. Everyone
had landscaping and a lawnmower, built in applianc-
es, yards to play in, winding streets where children
played and your neighbors went to and from work.
Our children walked to school without fear and there
were also parks and community swimming pools. It
was a new America and our dreams became reality:
Opportunity for growth was all around us.
The women of the baby boomer generation were
raised with a 1950’s housewife mentality and married
early, until they grew into the mania of the “sex”-ties
mentality, and they raised their broods through the
most unfashionable time in history, the 1970’s. This
was the era of Neil Diamond, the Beatles, Elvis, Sat-
urday Night Live and our introduction to youth soccer
in America.
We missed the boat in those generations. While
the women of the 1960’s were burning their bras
we were shopping for nursing bras. We were post
Beatles or pre Rolling Stones. During Woodstock,
many were changing diapers and entertaining their
husband’s bosses. World events took a back seat
behind the ‘car bed’.
Did you ever wonder who the first “Soccer Moms” San Diego
were? Soccer did not become a popular organized Woman
youth sport until the 1970’s. Every kid in America
wanted to play soccer. Soccer continues to be an
acceptable and valued sport and supported whole-
heartedly by today’s 17
Soccer Moms who hover over their children while
encouraging them from the sidelines. It caught on
big time and they were and still are usually subur-
ban women who car pool back and forth to games.
Hence, the popularity of the SUV or Minivan
We were the original soccer Moms and didn’t know
it. In my case, at the time we were transplants from
New York and New Jersey and lived in the South.
It was tournament time, late spring, and we were
scheduled to play at the school field that day. The
usual parents would be there with team colored
shirts or hats and Cepacol to spray after yelling down the field ner parties, usually organized by our Soccer Mom friend, Roz.
at their kids. Gatorade had just been invented so there was not We had dinner parties every week in those days. Some were
much of that, but team Moms concocted a sweet punch of juice planned and some impromptu. We had costume parties, pool
or a bucket of orange slices for the team. The Southern Mom’s parties, soccer parties, basketball parties, football parties, tennis
yelled in their high pitched voices, “Run the other way sweet pea, parties, graduation parties, golf tournament parties, gourmet par-
he’s on your behind.” We Northern Moms had our own choice ties, progressive dinner parties, card parties and holiday parties.
phrases, “Get your ass down that field, no, no not that way.” Irene We were truly living the American Dream.
always added “kill number 11”, a number belonging to my son There were many memorable parties and any excuse was good
who ran the field like a Sherman Tank taking out everyone in his enough to have one.
path. My friend, Irene, wanted to spice up the sideline fun and We never had kids at our parties, they had their own friends to
was getting her boys in the car when she remembered to go back play with. We were kids too finding our way through the twenty
in the house for the Bloody Marys. She emptied the shaker of and thirty-something’s.
fragrant tomato juice into her thermos just seemed to be more That was more than 30 years ago girls and I wouldn’t change one
fun that way once in a while. The kids had no idea what we were minute of it. So enjoy your journey Millennium Soccer Moms.
drinking. When the games were over on Saturdays, we gathered They can be the best times of your lives and you, too, will have
the car pool kids and headed back home to get ready for the din- wonderful stories to tell the next generation of “Soccer Moms”.