Everyone knows that one soccer mom that always has to be the loudest, pushiest and meanest when their child gets pushed to the ground. Their child is the best on the team, perfect and doesn’t do anything wrong. The term ‘Soccer Mom’ could also apply to a father who acts in the same way. It’s crazy to think of what soccer moms do to get what they want. I had a soccer dad drive up to me, pull out a $50 just to park in the referee parking. But, I said no and he screamed at me. If I accepted that money, I would’ve gotten fired. A lot of these soccer parents don’t know the trouble that all the employees go through. Another problem is that dogs are not allowed at the facilities for medical and safety reasons, yet parents bring them anyways and get mad that they have to leave the dog in the car. They also disregard the rule of NO drinking or smoking, but hey, according to soccer moms it’s okay!

A referee could show up five minutes late to a game and everyone would think that WWIII broke out. Employees at Massachusetts Youth Soccer Association (Progin Park) are not responsible for any referee situations because there is a referee coordinator that keeps the refs in place. But a soccer mom would say, or rather, scream: “Are you kidding me? Where are the refs?” (and some choice words that couldn’t be written in this article.) All the employees can say is, “Sorry ma’am but we’re not-” and the angry soccer moms wouldn’t know the rest because they’d either cut employees off mid-sentence or walk away in rage.

Employees at Progin Park are only responsible for parking, fields, and transporting people. So they park cars, clean the fields and drive people from one end to the other end. They are not responsible for parents being late. When angry soccer moms are late, they think they gain these special privileges that no one else has. For example, there is a referee lot that is only for administration, referees and the handicapped; very rarely are parents allowed to park in that lot.

One day there was a man that demanded to park in the main lot but it was full so the answer was a clear no. He pulled up next to me and became uncomfortably close, forcing me to physically block his vehicle with my body. The angry soccer mom in him thought it was okay to roll forwards, only inches from me. I could feel the heat of the engine and I became sweaty and nervous but stood my ground. During my time as a human barricade another man whipped his car into park, got out, ran up to my face, and started screaming about how he “knew” there were spots open in the lot. I knew there weren’t so I simply said “Sorry sir, I cannot let anybody through”.

Throughout my four years of working at Progin Park I’ve been pushed around, screamed at, and emotionally crushed. I was once a young innocent boy that always smiled and always had a fun time, until I started working at the Massachusetts Youth Soccer Association aka Progin Park. I never knew how cruel life could really be.