Way Beyond Soccer Dad

Soccer moms and dads like me have become commonplace. We schlep our kids eight months of the year to practices, camps, tournaments, even futsal class, then on game day sit on the sidelines sipping lattes and hoping - no, praying -  our children will embrace and excel at the beautiful game. I've been a soccer dad eleven years running.

But something happened the other night that made me realize - I've moved way beyond the soccer dad label.

The moment seemed innocuous enough at the time. My daughter and her friend and I were on the couch watching the Euro 2008 Tournament game between Switzerland and the Czech Republic. Our roots are Italian and Swedish, so the match meant nothing to us. A Swiss player dribbled the ball down the right sideline and made a killer crossover move to get past a defender.

"Oooo!" the three of us on the couch said in unison.

And here's the thing - I don't even recall what happened next. I do know the player didn't score. There were no high fives, no chest bumps, no ballplayer-cum-Obama fist bumps. The player, Valon Behrami (who?! exactly. that's part of my point), had simply made a stunning move to retain possession and move his team five yards closer to the opponent's goal. And we were enthralled.

It wasn't always like that for me. When my daughter first started playing, I didn't know offside from onside, or penalty kick from free.  But watch enough soccer, and you learn. By the time my daughter's club team handily won a back-to-back league championship this past season, I'd learned to appreciate the nuances of the world's most popular game.

Add satellite coverage of the Italian Serie A League, with the giallo-rossi (yellow-red) of Roma, the bianco-neri (white-black) of Juventus, and the nero-rossi (black-red) of Milan, and I became hooked.

This father's day I'll be barbecuing with family, of course. But don't be surprised if I sneak off to catch the score of the Portugal match. That Portuguese striker, Cristiano Ronaldo, brings some serious game.

Original Silicon Valley Moms Blog post. David Mott authors the blog Dad's House - Dating and Parenting as a Single Dad.