Leave it to a bunch of soccer moms in New Jersey to get fed up with watching their kids get all the glory of kicking some balls. New York Times sports columnist Harvey Araton’s book, Alive and Kicking: When Soccer Moms Take the Field and Change Their Lives Forever (2007) chronicled the lives of these women and now soccer superstar (and total hottie) Mia Hamm will be producing the film version.
The book centers on a New Jersey suburb where the mothers of young soccer players struggle with their involvement in the game. A description of the book notes:
The women of Montclair were mostly of that pre-Title IX generation, and many of them had never played competitive sports in their lives. In Alive and Kicking, Harvey Araton follows these women through their turbulent first two seasons. He turns his keen sportswriter’s eye onto the battles, both on the field and in the psyche, that these women wage as they try to play a sport without compromising their values.
But most of all he describes the women who gain in confidence and ambition, like one of the league’s pioneers, who finds the strength to leave a tired marriage, buoyed by her accomplishments on the field — as well as the few who find themselves left behind by the achievers, those for whom this exposure to sport will leave the scars known to all who’ve been the last to be selected for a pickup game.
As a girl who grew up in AYSO (American Youth Soccer Organization) and later played soccer in the 2006 Gay Games, no one has to tell me twice to watch a movie about women’s soccer — even if it’s a field filled with Bon Jovi-loving, Aqua Net-sprayed hair wearing mamas. In fact, I’d like to think about who to cast in the film. Is Fran Drescher too obvious? I wonder if Marisa Tomei would be available or Kathy Najimy? How about a little Catherine and/or Elizabeth Keener action? Who can you picture in a role like this?
I can’t imagine my Mom or stepmom putting some cleats on, kicking a ball around a field or actually scoring a goal but I would be the first person to cart them there, put out some orange slices and Capri Sun juice boxes.
