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The Evanston Soccer Mom : A Special Breed ?
Like many other things in Evanston,.... it's a dash of this, a pinch of that....
Not being a soccer Mom or Dad myself, I'm curious....Is this a special breed ?
I mean, if they wandered into Rogers Park, Skokie oe the North Shore, would they be identifiable to a more educated eye ?
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Having had two boys play ayso soccer from k-8th grade, and one on Team Evanston for one year I can truly say I am an Evanston Soccer Mom! I think the thing that distinguishes us from other suburban areas is that a)we talk to each other as we watch, and support each other's kids b) we don't sit and talk on the cell phone and ignore the game c)we don't sit in the car and wait for the game to end and come out at the end with a stupid grin on our faces and d)we often bring books to read but seldom read them because we get so caught up in the game!
Evanston soccer is all about supporting our kids, just like all the other aspects of our lives, and we do it right! Go Evanston soccer moms! We do it right!
I always thought "soccer mom" was derogatory....no?
Nearly every kid in Evanston plays soccer (AYSO) or softball/Baseball (EBSA) or Pop Warner football, or FAMM basketball. or tennis, or is on the swim team at the YMCA or YWCA. If you added them all up the number would be in the thousands. Moms and Dads in Evanston drop off, pick up, coach, and pass the snacks without thinking very hard about it. You know them by their car magnets.
And that doesn't count the Arts Kids, huge numbers, thousands, in Ballet/Dance, theatre, and Fine Arts at the Dance Center, Gus Giordano, Evanston Art Center, Noyes, and the Music Institute. You know these as well by their WBEZ or WFMT bumpter stickers.
Now, the PTA parent, that's a little bit rarer breed, and those parents can discuss extremely arcane and hidden D65 and D202 policy. They are those people who keep asking uncomfortable questions of the administrators, such as, "how does this follow school board policy as listed in the manual on page . ..
What sets Evanston apart, perhaps, is that our Dads participate fully in the sports and arts activities of our kids, taking off work early, doing the driving, selling the tickets, managing the teams, delivering the snacks. Our Dads don't work in the city till midnight, they are right there on the fields and in the auditoriums, taking on teams of little girls and boys. It's a beautfiul thing to see.
Although there is something a tad bit Euro chic about being called "soccer mom," the reality is that the whole wide world of American Sports as viewed in pre-school, elementary, middle school and beyond is one that involves driving. I once met a Ph.D. mom whose mini-van was layered in fast-food bags. She admitted to the fact that, with three kids playing summer ball, her life was on the run and so were the meals. The blessings of whatever the activity might be we hope to be self-evident: fun, discipline, exercise and a sense of community along with family. Because some adult will be doing the driving: Mom, Dad, Grandparent or good friend & at some point one of them will "be there" to cheer on the student athlete, musician, dancer or singer. And that's another story....
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