For most parents in the world -not counting the US- teaching a child how to kick a ball is as significant as watching them take their first steps. Way before a child has been born in a family, innumerous conversation have taken place between the parents and grandparents to define the rightful age for the child-to-be to attend their first soccer match. Familial bonds have tightened and lost due to team rivalries. Spouses have been chosen and divorced thanks disagreements around the TV screen.
Such is the power of soccer around the world, it has become undoubtedly a part of the fabric of society, culture and even religion. How many prayers have been send to the heavens at a penalty shot, how many vows taken by fanatics in Sunday games?. No hymn has been sung so loudly and with so much fervor than those around the concrete stands of a home stadium.
Those local stadiums around the globe are the temples of today. The ritual of wearing the colors of the team and name of soccer martyrs are a sign of legacy in the community, the older the soccer jersey, the more reverence it demands. However as cultural norms, and religious precepts need are updated with time, stadiums need to follow along and adapt to the next generations. Falling behind evolution risks losing newer generations to other teams, which would be considered heretical.
For this reason alone, stadiums need to updated to be reminders of the victories of the past to show our communities were we come from. They need to stay in the present, to capture the current emotion of the age. And they need look forward to inspire the next world stars.
