Soccer mom Angie Lemman and her daughter Lece spend their afternoons watching her daughters Lita and Lali play. (Lee Talbert/Johnson City Press)
The soccer mom is an ever-evolving title with responsibilities that list at least a page long. She hauls her players to practice and games, wipes tears after losses and patches up scrapes following a fall on the field. The definition of a die-hard fan, the soccer mom is a force to be reckoned with who will cheer louder than anyone else on the sidelines.
?A soccer mom is a mom who devotes the time and effort that it takes for the children to play if that?s what they want to do,? said Melissa Kell of Johnson City. ?We get them to practice, work with them throughout the week on what the coach said to practice and make sure they?re on time for their games.?
Kell and moms like her make it sound easy. Even with three young boys participating in the Johnson City Parks and Recreation Youth Soccer League, she plays it cool and keeps a smile on her face as she talks about Saturdays spent running between fields and a trunk full of soccer balls, shin guards and cleats.
?I love every minute of it,? she said.
Carrie Miller is another experienced soccer mom. With sons on two different teams, the Johnson City resident had six games on her schedule last week on four separate nights. Fellow mom Kell plans around the moments her youngsters are on the field and when games double-up, Miller and her husband split their time between the boys.
As a former player for Science Hill, Miller says she has a hard time staying in her seat when sons Tripp or Stiles have control of the ball.
?I travel with my knitting so I don?t yell as much at my children because I realize they?re 6 and 8,? she said. ?I have to calm down a little and I don?t want to be ?that mom.? ?
Even soccer moms new to the title find themselves shouting louder than they ever thought they would. Angie Lemmon says some of her previous cheerleading skills come out whenever daughters Lita or Lali are headed down the field with the ball in front of them. During those proud moments, it?s easy for mamas to get pumped up, despite any errors their young player may commit.
?We try to stay very positive about everything,? said Theresa Hutchins, whose 7-year-old daughter plays for the Fairmont Yellow Jackets. ?If she kicks something and it goes crazy we say ?Good job.? It doesn?t matter. If she kicks a goal we?re excited about that, too, but we try to make it a positive experience for her so she?ll want to play again next year.?
One of a soccer mom?s hardest tasks is teaching their offspring how to deal with the losses.
?It?s hard,? Miller said. ?We?ve won one game, but you?ve got to realize that there?s lessons to be learned in winning and losing.?
?We lost our first game last week and that was a hard one,? Kell said. ?You have to teach them that when you lose you have a positive attitude with that.?
While trying to pay attention to the herd of girls or boys following the ball around, many of the mothers have younger children to keep occupied during the contests. As Lemmon spoke about the Providence teams her girls play for, 3-year-old Lece giggled and climbed between the rows of bleachers. She says the playground at Civitan Park gets a lot of usage from mothers like herself who have impatient little ones with lots of energy to burn. Kell says she is thankful for the network of soccer moms who also have multiple children in need of a playmate or two.
Not every mother with a child running toward the goal thinks of herself as a soccer mom. Hutchins said her first-year status in trying to figure out the world of recreation soccer didn?t exactly make her worthy of the title, but as the interview went on, she realized she met most of the qualifications.
?After talking about all of that I guess I feel like a soccer mom, so maybe I?m changing my mind,? she said with a laugh before calling herself a ?green mom? who drives a Toyota Prius rather than the stereotypical minivan.
Lemmon identified herself as the ?mom in the Mini Cooper,? while Miller was anxious to upgrade from her Volkswagen station wagon.
?My next one will be a minivan,? she said. ?When you?re helping moms out and hauling around other kids you need the extra space, it?s such a clich?.?
Once the games are over and the players have been put to bed and the jerseys are in the washing machine, a soccer mom?s journey nears its daily completion. The aching feet and the sore throat are worth it, just for a view of the grin it puts on that little soccer star?s face.
?I love seeing the smile on their faces when they hit the field,? Kell said. ?Now that he?s (Landon) older and understands the game and knows the position he has to hold, it?s fun to hear him talk about it and hear the excitement in his voice.?
