"We played soccer a lot with our friends and at school. We weren't on an official team or anything, but we'd definitely be up for it in gym or in after-school pickup games where we live"
About this Quote
The context matters: Olsen is speaking from a life where "official" has usually meant contracts, schedules, scrutiny. So she draws a boundary between play and performance. "We weren't on an official team" is less about soccer than about opting out of institutions that turn enjoyment into a metric. In the 1990s and early 2000s, youth sports were already sliding into the travel-league, trophy-economy machine; her anecdote quietly sides with the pre-professional version of being a kid, where the point is motion, friends, and bragging rights that evaporate by dinner.
The subtext also polishes relatability without pandering. By anchoring the memory in gym class and after-school pickup games, Olsen plants herself in an ordinary American setting - the democratic spaces of asphalt fields and school yards - while still keeping the story lightweight. It's a recollection that humanizes without rewriting her biography: not "athlete", not "outsider", just someone who showed up to play.
Quote Details
| Topic | Sports |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Olsen, Mary-Kate. (2026, January 16). We played soccer a lot with our friends and at school. We weren't on an official team or anything, but we'd definitely be up for it in gym or in after-school pickup games where we live. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/we-played-soccer-a-lot-with-our-friends-and-at-92547/
Chicago Style
Olsen, Mary-Kate. "We played soccer a lot with our friends and at school. We weren't on an official team or anything, but we'd definitely be up for it in gym or in after-school pickup games where we live." FixQuotes. January 16, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/we-played-soccer-a-lot-with-our-friends-and-at-92547/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"We played soccer a lot with our friends and at school. We weren't on an official team or anything, but we'd definitely be up for it in gym or in after-school pickup games where we live." FixQuotes, 16 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/we-played-soccer-a-lot-with-our-friends-and-at-92547/. Accessed 12 Feb. 2026.

