Soccer is hardly known for being a dangerous sport — heck, soccer players are widely mocked for being laughably soft, often rolling around “in agony” after the slightest touch from an opposing player — but an amusing viral video circulating on TikTok shows it can be pretty hazardous.
In the 10-second clip, which appears to have been inadvertently captured on a family’s household security camera, a father plays with his helmet-adorned son in and around their front yard. The on-screen caption explains what’s happening. It says, “I showed my kid today how high I could kick the ball and then this happened” — and what happens is hilarious!
The dad launches the multi-colored ball into the air to the extent that it’s off-screen for around four seconds. When it reappears following its subsequent descent, it lands square on his son’s head. Thankfully, the protection offered by the aforementioned helmet is enough to prevent the child from falling over or getting hurt — and laughs can be heard from both him and his dad — but he does end up off-balance for a second or two.
The video — found on the Memezar TikTok account — is captioned with the line, “I think I found the reason for the helmet.” It garnered a lively response from users of the popular video-sharing platform.
How did TikTok react?
Several people noted that the helmet suggested the events in the video had happened before, with comments like, “the helmet tells me it wasn’t the first time,” “hence the helmet,” and “And I was just gonna ask why is he wearing a helmet?”
Others praised the youngster’s impressive ability to track the ball, writing things like, “Kid got better ball tracking than Aaron Judge in the world series,” “Pretty good tracking. Future outfielder or wide receiver. Need to work on the hands tho,” “His arms weren’t long enough to make the snag, but his tracking is impeccable,” “He could play for the Yankees right now,” and “bruh tracked that pretty good too. gg buddy.”
Many commenters admired the fact that the kid simply laughed at the impact of the ball instead of crying, with comments like, “He just immediately giggles after it hit his tiny head,” “Kids a winner. laughed it off like a pro,” “that’s the next MMA champ, the way he laughed when he got hit tells it all,” and “That’s a real kid. Laughing about it instead of whining!”
One person pointed out the hilarity of the video by suggesting, “This would’ve won America’s Home Videos back in the 90s, easily.”
According to Statista’s most recent statistics on the subject from 2021, 7.4 percent of children participated in soccer regularly in 2021, up from 6.2 percent in 2020. It’s a growing sport that is starting to compete more with the traditional American favorites of football, basketball, and baseball in popularity. Hopefully, any dads playing soccer with their children are ensuring they’re wearing helmets if they plan on kicking the ball a hundred feet up into the air. We don’t want any incidents like the one in the video resulting in any head injuries after all!