LANGLEY, B.C.—Every Thursday night, Janice Sparrow must make a harrowing decision. Does she head north and support the Sunshine Superstars? Or turn east and cheer for the Abby Alligators?
“Why can’t you come to my game?” wailed seven-year-old Marina, Sparrow’s eldest daughter. “I’m going to score a goal, I just know it! Annnnnnnd you won’t beeee there!”
Sparrow is torn asunder by the weekly pleas of her daughters, who play soccer in the pee-wee and cubs leagues. “When I signed them up, they were supposed to play on Wednesdays and Thursdays,” Sparrow said, wiping snot from Marina’s face. “I don’t know what happened, but when the schedules came out, they both had games on Thursday nights. Now I have to deal with this.”
Clinging to her mother’s leg, five-year-old Tatijana refused to let go until her mother acquiesced. “No!” she shouted. “No! No! No! No! No! You come to my game!”
Sparrow implored husband John Spy to intervene, but he shrugged his shoulders. “You know I’m just the default. Whoever doesn’t get you ends up with me.” He bent down to address Tatijana. “Honey, do you want Daddy to come to your game and cheer for you?”
“Noooooo!” Tatijana howled, and joined her sister in a chorus of tears.
Eventually, Sparrow was able to slip out the back door while Spy distracted Marina with a juice box. Upon arriving at the soccer field, Tatijana refused to play and sat in the corner of the field with her arms crossed and her back to the game.