…Is There Life After Futbol?
By Robert S. Dotson, M.D.

For us, twelve years came and went as our daughter pursued her soccer aspirations. From age five until her eighteenth year, we watched her grow from childhood into adulthood - clad near continuously in some version of a soccer uniform. Those years were punctuated with countless sprains, strains, cuts and bruises; with tears of victory and of defeat; and, with times of joy and of heartache. In the seeming blink of an eye we moved from a tow-headed child in a too-large uniform to a grown woman defending a high school goal!

Those years were filled with tens of thousands of travel miles and, doubtless, we contributed significantly to Global Warming and hastened the passing of Peak Oil. The miles and years were strewn with: dozens of pairs of soccer shoes; dozens of uniforms, balls, shin guards and goalie gloves; countless patches, trophies, medals, high school letters, and certificates of achievement; tens of folding chairs; hundreds of tournament tee-shirts; innumerable water bottles and ice chests; and, thousands of photos that spanned the technology leap from film to digital camera. Countless nights were spent on the road in hotels and motels of every description – from mini-bar equipped palaces (all too rare) to flop-houses with pre-moistened towels and their resident populations of periplaneta Americana (all too common). Many weekends were devoted to fund raising efforts, such as washing cars, manning local tournaments and pancake breakfasts, selling programs, selling cookbooks, and selling doughnuts. High school seasons found us running ticket booths and concession stands. 

Years of our lives were devoted to practice, soccer camps, games and tournaments. Anointed with sunscreen and insect repellant, we worshiped the soccer gods in hundreds of open-air temples scattered across the land – genuflecting repeatedly at thousands of netting-hung altars. A not insignificant fortune was spent during this time on equipment, team and coaching fees, trainers and training camps, in addition to travel, food and lodging. We estimated expenditures of more than $15,000 during our daughter’s last six month club season, for instance (at least, they did win the State Title in their bracket)!

We played soccer – and, I use “we” appropriately here, as the entire family was involved in this activity – year around, indoors and out, day and night, in temperatures that extended from below freezing to above 100 degrees. In a challenge to the much-vaunted dedication of the U.S. Postal Service, neither rain, nor sleet, nor dark of night kept us from our play! 

On reflecting back over this chapter of our life, it is impossible not to become both nostalgic and philosophic. The sheer busy-ness, the excitement, the fellowship with other soccer families – all will be missed – and, yet, one must honestly ask, what was achieved in these twelve years? The answer to that is less certain, but several observations come to mind. 

First, the soccer experience was a positive thing for our child. By being intensely involved in a team sport for so many of her formative years, she was forced to stay physically fit. She had to learn to budget her time wisely in order to meet her academic demands. She established enduring friendships. She learned to work for the greater good of a team while maintaining her own identity and convictions. She learned tolerance and kindness in dealing with her teammates. She learned to be a leader when needed and developed confidence and a self-assuredness that will serve her well in the years ahead. She learned how to deal respectfully and honorably with the petty egocentricities of tyrannical coaches. She learned that hard work and commitment to a task are usually, but – more importantly, perhaps - not always rewarded. 

Of course, there were also negatives associated with this sports career. Some of the worst examples of human behavior can be seen in the environs of a soccer pitch. During our twelve-year run, I witnessed parents and even coaches involved in fist fights, in cursing that would make a rap star blush, in throwing of chairs and coolers, and in the attacking of hapless referees. I saw instances in which behavior became so bad that local police had to be summoned to remove or arrest a disgruntled fan, parent or coach.

Because of its physical nature, soccer is not without risk of injury and I witnessed and sometimes attended to hundreds of them – severe sprains; lacerations; contused and even ruptured (!) spleens; concussions; broken legs, arms, wrists, and collar-bones; destroyed knees and ankles. Though some of these injuries were unavoidable, I am convinced in retrospect that many of them could have been prevented with improved officiating and by implementing a few simple safety measures.

With regards to officiating, no other sport illustrates the importance of good referees better than does soccer. When a soccer game gets out of control, players will be hurt - no matter their size or age. It is the under-appreciated referees who have ultimate control of a game and, love them or hate them, it is they who must bring order out of chaos and keep games from becoming bloodbaths! Unfortunately, well-trained referees appear to always be in limited supply.

As a goalkeeper’s father and a physician, I quickly became concerned about the safety issues peculiar to that field position. A little research confirmed that the goal itself was, in fact, the cause of many serious soccer injuries and that the majority of those could be prevented by minor design changes to goal posts. Simple padding or rounding of these, for instance, would protect many players. The goalies, too, should be required to wear protective headgear and minimal padding, I believe. Sadly, my attempts at promoting these ideas within local soccer circles demonstrated a distinct lack of interest in preventive safety measures. Doubtless, like most things in America, safety issues will ultimately have to be addressed by activity within our tort system! Googling about the internet reveals more than one legal website soliciting patients with head injuries, so it is just a matter of time until trial attorneys discover the fertile field of youth soccer.

In any sport, the character or abilities of a particular coach are always being debated among its participants and soccer is certainly no different. Coaching style, personality, and skill vary widely as one might imagine. Some coaches are accused of being too tough, while others are thought to be too easy. Some are declared to be “unjust”, while others are considered to be “fair”. Some coaches lose sight of the object of the game and come to believe that the game is about them and their goals, instead of about the players and the team.

The intensity of competition in youth soccer in this country today has increasingly led to paid near “professional” coaches for younger and younger ages. The days of parent or volunteer coaches are rapidly fading away. This evolution toward a “pro” or “semi-pro” sport has resulted in an increase in the overall quality, but it has also led to significant increases in costs for most families. One unexpected benefit of this developing “professional” environment, however, is that coaches with personality disorders that would have been overlooked in the past are increasingly censored by the soccer community and are forced to moderate their behavior or leave the sport.

During our twelve-year career, we experienced every type of coach imaginable - from volunteer soccer parents who knew nothing about the game, but loved the kids, to paid professionals who knew everything about the game, but hated the kids. The latter personality was perhaps best exemplified by our own local high school coach who, in spite of his bullying and intimidating coaching style, had a historically strong soccer program – not because of some unique coaching gift, but because he had exceptional players with which to work. Chauvinistic and disrespectful of his players, he took great delight in personal attacks on the teenagers under his charge: “you’re too fat, too slow, too stupid, too lazy, too rich (especially, if a doctor’s kid).” Unless he succeeded in reducing several teenage girls to tears during every practice or game, he had somehow failed in his duty. Though the high school program has produced many college players, some of the best were sadly turned off to the game by the antics of this one man. 

Thankfully, this type of personality appears to be increasingly rare within coaching ranks. As soccer has become more mainstream, the pool of players and coaches has grown astronomically in the United States and the old dysfunctional guard is being phased out. Most of the men and women filling these positions today appear dedicated to the sport and are sincerely motivated to help their players improve. Fortunately, though my daughter received nothing but negative feedback from her own coach, she did receive positive comments from the coaches of competing high school and club teams throughout her high school years. For their unexpected kindnesses, I will be forever grateful.

In closing this extended musing, I want to note one final issue of particular concern - a problem that applies to soccer significantly, but to other youth sports, as well. The soccer experience in the United States is rapidly becoming one that is closed to families of limited means. Season fees alone can run several thousand dollars today and when one includes travel, equipment costs, and medical bills, entire parent incomes can be consumed. A visit to any large club tournament parking lot illustrates the problem in unmistakable images – acres of expensive SUVs and custom vans, sedans by BMW and Mercedes, vehicles by Landrover and Jaguar surround fields packed with Yuppie and Boomer families. One might expect this in club teams, I suppose, but AYSO (American Youth Soccer Organization, arguably the most egalitarian of US soccer organizations) and high school soccer are now very little different. In the United States, we are rapidly seeing soccer become a game that only the upper middle class can participate in. One does not see inner-city or lower-income kids participating in the sport as is seen with basketball, for instance.

As public education dollars dwindle in the United States, many school athletic programs have been the first to be cut. Traditional sports programs, like American football, basketball, baseball, and softball, all take priority over soccer in public school settings and that often forces soccer teams to become largely self-supporting. Consequently, the tax-paying families of participating public school kids must often pay significant sums for their children to play school-sponsored soccer. Needless to say, that can cause financial problems for lower income families and can significantly impact their children’s ability to participate. There is obviously something wrong with this picture when we are simultaneously being told that American children are increasingly sedentary and that an epidemic of obesity is threatening their health. 

Given the strangely distorted priorities of our society, it is not clear to me how to easily improve the situation. A partial answer, however, may be found within our rapidly growing Latino population. That segment of our society brings with it a cultural fascination for Pelé’s “beautiful game” and one sees predominantly Hispanic and Brazilian soccer leagues springing up around every major city in the United States. Throughout Central and South America, one finds soccer being played by even the most destitute. There, economic status appears to be no barrier to participation in the beautiful game. Perhaps we can learn from our Latino neighbors and re-discover that one does not need to drive a gas-guzzling SUV or spend a small fortune to participate in futbol. Indeed, we have lost some of the best parts of soccer by commercializing it to death (like we seem to do with everything else in America – whether it be politics, religion, or sports and recreation)! 

And, so… One door closes, another opens, and life goes on! For our family those beautiful days on the green soccer pitch are now past and, though it is still too early to know for certain, it does appear that there may be life after soccer. New families have already replaced us and they have begun their own journeys along soccer’s path. To all those soccer dads and moms still juggling work, school, and family life to be involved in the sport, a parting word: “Enjoy these days while you can! Your family will never be closer than when it is part of the beautiful game.” 

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