Johan Esk: Carola’s Happiest Years Were as an Almost Ordinary Soccer Mom

Being a sports parent can feel like entering a safe zone. For Carola Häggkvist, it was a soccer stand and the sidelines around her son Amadeus’s matches.

Carola turns 60 on Tuesday, and the years when she was an almost ordinary soccer mother were, she has said, her happiest. In an interview conducted by the columnist’s friend Tobias, she described that period as “some of the happiest and finest” years of her life, a refuge from everything else.

The columnist sees sports parents as people who can temporarily leave their professional identities at the gate. On the stands or around the pitch, jobs and titles initially matter less. The children are the focus, and many parents try to keep a low profile about their daily lives.

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Some of the years as Amadeus’s soccer mother were the happiest and finest. It was a kind of safe zone for me.

That restraint does not come naturally to Carola, Sweden’s singularly distinctive superstar, according to the column. She has said, “I always have to be myself, I couldn’t really hold back. I’m inventive and creative, and I started the cheerleading at the matches.” She added that she did not do it because she needed to be seen, but because she wanted the boys to feel their support.

The column also recalls Carola’s admission that she can sometimes become “a little carolish.” That happened when Amadeus’s team played a tournament in Västerås. Even inside the temporary refuge of youth football, her personality could not disappear completely.

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I always have to be myself, I couldn’t really hold back. I’m inventive and creative, and I started the cheerleading at the matches. Not because I needed to be seen, but because I wanted the boys to feel our support.