Coleen Rooney has opened up about the harsh reality her son Kai faces on the football pitch, enduring cruel taunts about his father Wayne during youth matches. The wife of the Manchester United icon shared her family's experiences in the youth game
At 38, Coleen is a mother to four boys, with Kai, aged 15, being the eldest. As a budding striker for United's academy, he often deals with the pressure of being the son of the club's all-time top scorer.
During one particular tournament at St George's Park, Kai was subjected to brutal mockery, especially after missing a crucial penalty. Coleen told the Stick to Football podcast: "A few years ago, I remember my son Kai took a penalty at St George's Park, where we were for a tournament. It went to penalties, Kai stepped up and just skied it.
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"Afterwards I asked him how he could take a penalty like that, and he told me he was just fuming as the goalkeeper was saying: 'Your dad's s***', and he got dead angry. It doesn't happen to him very often, but it did then, and you can see in some games where they give you a little push. He's strong-minded though and usually shrugs it off."
Coleen also touched upon the nomadic lifestyle that comes with being part of a footballing family, with frequent moves to new cities or countries being part and parcel of the game.
Former England and United star Rooney's move to DC United in 2018 marked a significant change for his family, as they left their stable life in the north-west behind. His wife explained the challenges of relocating to the US with their young children.
[Moving to America] was a big challenge," she admitted. "My youngest was six months, so to pick up a family was a lot. We agreed to go and looked at it as an adventure for a few years. Wayne went before us, and I waited until school finished [for the kids] and then planned on going for two years then come back again for my eldest to go to secondary school.
"My first thing was, as long as the kids were okay, I wanted to make sure the schools there were good. We looked and the British school was in DC, but where they wanted us to move was an hour away.
"In the end, I had to put my foot down and say no, we'll move to where the school is, and he [Wayne] will have to travel into training. If we went as a couple and not with the kids, it would have been fine."
