This Adorable Soccer Photo Proves That Co-Parenting Can Be Successful

By Margo Gothelf 3 min read

Although a divorce isn’t always easy, this family found a way to put their differences aside for the sake of their daughter.

Emilee Player posted a photo on Facebook showing the cheering section for her stepdaughter’s soccer game, and shortly after the photo went viral. The picture shows 4-year-old Maelyn Player and her cheering section, which includes her mom and dad — as well as both stepmom and stepdad.

In the photo, the four parents are wearing matching blue shirts with their daughter’s number on the back. Each shirt also states the role that they play in Maelyn’s life.

The photo quickly blew up on the internet with over 33,000 likes and 85,000 shares on Facebook alone.

Maelyn’s mother, Clara Cazeau, and father, Ricky Player, got divorced in 2013, yet they have found a way to successfully co-parent their daughter. For the 4-year-old, having both sets of parents around is pretty normal.

“Alex, the stepdad, is in the Army and stationed in Fort Bragg, but every time he is home all four of us attend,” Emilee Player told The Huffington Post. “On a regular day it is the three of us, and we make it a point to sit together and cheer her on as a family.”

Cazeau had a friend make the jerseys as a way to show support for her daughter.

“It is important that Maelyn grows up knowing that her mommy and daddy were able to put our differences aside for the sake of her,” Cazeau said to BuzzFeed.

The soccer jerseys are just one example of how this family makes co-parenting work.

“We do all birthdays together for Maelyn,” Cazeau said to The Huffington Post. “We also go to each other’s birthday dinners with their own families, we do holidays together, we go to one another’s houses, we are literally always doing things together.”

Cazeau had no idea that the photo would go viral when it was posted online.

“It was very shocking! We had no idea this picture would go viral!” Cazeau wrote to Your Daily Dish. “We take family pictures like this all the time. My mom used to get them made for my brother when he played baseball. So I thought it would be a good idea to do the same with Maelyn. After all, it’s her first sport EVER!”

Cazeau hopes the picture will show others that co-parenting is definitely possible.

“I would hope people can take from the picture that co parenting is possible,” Cazeau told Your Daily Dish. “Not ever situation is the same, and we never intended on our situation being this way, but it is and it works great for us. I will say, in order for it to truly work everyone has to put there differences aside and remember it is all for the child.”

Maelyn is one lucky girl with two loving sets of parents!

“You can learn how to put your differences aside and do what’s best for your kid,” Emilee Player told Today. “At the end of the day your kid is watching you, and we want to teach Maelyn to love other people.”