[Hobby] Someday, I want to take my family to watch an Arsenal match.

Currently, my wife and I are on a one-year parental leave, spending our chaotic days with our 2-year-old and newborn daughters.

In the midst of such peaceful childcare, a secret ambition suddenly sprouted within me.

“Someday, I want to go watch an Arsenal match with my daughters.”

This is strictly my own personal wish.
I have absolutely no intention of forcing my hobbies onto my children.

It is just a fantasy that if my daughters could take even the slightest interest in the team I love, the joys of life would double or triple.

And there was a catalyst that turned this fantasy into a plan.

A glimpse of a future Gooner seen in my daughter's 'red-only' choice

The catalyst was my eldest daughter's color preference.
Since she started speaking, her favorite color has consistently been 'red'.

Recently, when I ask her, 'What is your favorite color?', she answers immediately, 'Red!'

Whether it's toys, clothes, or even origami and crayons, the way she chooses red is so decisive that it even feels refreshing.

For me, when I think of 'red', it's obviously Arsenal!

That passionate red is the first thing that comes to mind.

My daughter's 'red-only, unwavering' attitude feels like a destiny decided long ago, and as a father, I got excited thinking, 'Could this perhaps be a glimpse of the Arsenal soul, a Gooner?'

My distant soccer life and my wife, who is secretly getting closer

In the first place, I started liking Arsenal when I was in junior high school.

It was after I was captivated by the play of the incredibly fast, young, and cool Theo Walcott in a match broadcast on BS1 for the first time.

I was shocked by his sense of speed and brilliance, and since then, I have proudly called myself an Arsenal fan, or a Gooner.

However, since childcare began, the time to watch matches late at night or on weekends has completely disappeared.

My life revolves around my children. The only time I get to touch on soccer is when my wife and I occasionally watch match highlights on YouTube while our daughter is napping.

However, someone has recently appeared who knows more about Arsenal players' movements than I do: my wife.

She used to say, 'Soccer again?' but now she follows the players on Instagram and knows more about the latest news than I do. As a long-time fan, I honestly find it frustrating that I can't keep up with her in conversation (laughs).

'What if our daughter becomes a fan...'

In the midst of such casual conversation with my wife, I thought to myself.

'Ah, if our daughter starts liking Arsenal, we could watch matches together as a family, not just the highlights.'

If that happened, we'd have more to talk about as a family, and we could enjoy it as a shared hobby between parent and child. That would be ideal.
And then there's the aforementioned fact that 'my daughter likes red'.

Furthermore, she has recently taken a liking to round objects, and even at home, she prefers looking at picture books and videos of 'balls'.

'Red' and 'balls'...

This just has to be associated with Arsenal, right!

Conflict between ideal and reality: I don't want to lay down the tracks for her hobbies

My ideals keep growing, but here I hit a major wall.

'I don't want to lay down the tracks for my child's hobbies, and it's difficult.'

I want her to cherish the things she likes, but I still want to avoid having them forced upon her by her parents in order to respect her autonomy.
I hope that her interest in soccer will also sprout from her own will as well.

Hints for the future from 'Gooner girls'

How can I create an opportunity for them to naturally become interested in Arsenal?
Thinking this, I first decided to look into what kind of people 'women who become Arsenal fans' are.

That's when I learned about actress and TV personality Kaori Sasaki.

Ms. Sasaki is known as an avid Gooner, and she has publicly stated this in the media.
I thought that by learning how she became a fan, I might find some hints for my approach to my daughters.

The mechanism of Kaori Sasaki's "fandom"

It seems that Ms. Sasaki became an Arsenal fan after watching a compilation of goals by former Arsenal superstar Thierry Henry.

The deciding charm:

In other words, extraordinary play captured her heart in an instant.

And I also learned that before she was drawn to Henry, she wasn't particularly obsessed with soccer.

Initial involvement with soccer:

What became clear from Ms. Sasaki's story is the process where, having an environment where she was exposed to soccer itself, an encounter with a special player (shocking play) became the trigger for becoming a full-fledged fan.

The 'meaning' of cheering as a family, as shown by scientific evidence

From this realization, I dug deeper and looked into the scientific basis for why children become fans of a specific sports team.

The conclusions drawn from various studies were encouraging.

• Social Learning Theory
  A theory proposed by Albert Bandura. By
  observing and imitating parents' cheering behavior, children internalize the recognition that watching sports is fun.

• Social Identity Theory
  A theory proposed by Henri Tajfel and others. By
  becoming a member of the fan group (in-group) that the family belongs to, a sense of belonging and self-esteem are satisfied.

• Attachment Theory
  Experiences such as visiting the stadium with parents link the team with positive emotions, making the team recognized as a psychological 'secure base'.

Based on these theories, the act of cheering for a team with one's family is not just a hobby, but an important developmental and learning process deeply involved in the construction of social identity and emotional stability.

Someday, to Emirates Stadium in London

I don't necessarily want them to become Arsenal geeks.
But if there is something that the whole family can be passionate about together, life should become much richer.

Like Kaori Sasaki, I hope my daughters can encounter a moment by the time they are around 10 years old where they think, 'This is interesting!'
To that end, my wife and I enjoying sports, expressing that emotion openly, and providing an environment and opportunity to 'cheer as a family'is what I think I can do as a father right now.

First, I think I will start by having my daughters sit quietly next to my wife and me in our living room while we watch the highlights together.

And, someday.

Together with my daughter who only chooses red, my zero-year-old second daughter who has yet to decide on her favorite color, and my wife who is knowledgeable about the players' lifestyles and private lives, I want us all to shout from the stands at Emirates Stadium in London.

Come on you Gunners! That is what I want to shout.

Dreaming of that day, I will enjoy parenting again today.