Champions of women's soccer

Review by Booklist Review

New Englanders cheer on the Boston Red Sox, while Texans call the Dallas Cowboys their home team, but the U.S. women's national soccer team gets all Americans cheering. Whether new to the sport or a devoted fan, readers will find an overview of recent and current stars in professional women's soccer in this enthusiastic guide. Its arrangement resembles a soccer match with the Pregame section offering a quick history of the U.S. women's national soccer team and its growing popularity. The best part of the book, however, kicks off in the First Half, which features profiles of such influential soccer champions as Mia Hamm, Brandi Chastain, and Hope Solo. The Second Half follows the same format with profiles of international soccer champs. Other sections include a Halftime history of women's soccer (including the importance of Title IX in the U.S.), top events in women's soccer, and a look at the next generation of soccer superstars. A concluding photo section of champions in action will score more readers for this high-interest volume.--Leeper, Angela Copyright 2018 Booklist

From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.

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Review by School Library Journal Review

Gr 4 Up-Relive the most exciting moments in women's soccer in this in-depth collective biography of the sport's biggest stars. After an enthusiastic ode to the sport in the "Pregame" chapter, Killion relays the career highlights of 11 U.S. players for the "First Half." Providing only minimal information about each player's personal life and background, the focus is instead on achievements on the field. She goes on to profile 11 international players for the "Second Half." "Halftime" is dedicated to a history of women playing soccer and the impact the 1972 passing of Title IX had on women's athletic teams. Remaining sections cover top 10 lists of the best goals, the best events, the biggest upsets, and the biggest saves. A small section of photographs is appended, and a concluding section profiles the next generation of star players. While this text provides plenty of exciting statistics and blow-by-blow retellings of great moments in soccer history, it is not for the casual sports enthusiast. Killion knows the game and its history and writes for an audience already familiar with and fond of the sport. The focus on women athletes represents a much-needed perspective in sports books for tweens and will be a welcome addition. VERDICT A practical purchase for collections where soccer and sports books are in demand and books about women in sports are lacking.-Kristy Pasquariello, Wellesley Free Library, MA © Copyright 2018. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

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Review by Horn Book Review

With nimble writing and meaty quotes, Killion's collective biographies target "the most important players--not necessarily the best but the ones with the biggest impact" in America and internationally. She doesn't skirt tough topics (e.g., alcohol abuse) as she briefly profiles past, present, and up-and-coming athletes. A broad-strokes history of men's and women's soccer, top-ten lists, and action photos are included. Ind. [Review covers these titles: [cf2Champions of Men's Soccer] and Champions of Women's Soccer.] (c) Copyright 2019. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

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Review by Kirkus Book Review

Empowerment. Goal-setting. Positivity. Oh yeah, and sports too. Killion has distilled the best of the best moments and biographical information into an easy-to-read and exciting look at the players and moments in women's soccer. Inspirational quotes from the players start each chapter, and it's not difficult to imagine readers taking them to heart. The book goes beyond the basic statistics of the players (presented at the end of each chapter for easy reference) to introduce readers to their stories, both highs and lows. Although the tone of the book is positive, it does not shy away from the darker moments in players' lives. Abby Wambach's substance-abuse issues, Brandi Chastain's family losses, and Bri Scurry's brain injuries are examples of the realism injected into story and are openly acknowledged and discussed. The final quarter of the book examines the history of women's soccer and serves as the perfect hook to pull readers into watching a few games. Young readers will love this action-packed, uplifting look at the women of the National Women's Soccer League and the moments that turned the league into the nation's obsession so much they will leave this book dog-eared from repeated readings. Sports fans will be overjoyed, but the superhero-comics crowd might also be pleasantly surprised by these modern-day wonder women.A must-have for any biography section. (Nonfiction. 8-12) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

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Pregame   What's the most popular sports team in the United States? How you answer that question might depend on where you live. Or maybe where your parents grew up. If you were born and bred in Texas, you might love the Dallas Cowboys; if you live in New England, you probably love the Boston Red Sox. Or it could be the San Antonio Spurs or the Chicago Blackhawks or another great franchise. Maybe that's because you live in those cities or because those teams win a lot. It's also possible your parents grew up root­ing for them and handed down their allegiance to you like a family heirloom. Perhaps you like their uniforms. Or your brother hates them and you want to be different. But those teams aren't America's favorite team. Those aren't teams that get the entire country excited and emotionally invested. They don't make everyone in all fifty states pull together and cheer. But over the past two decades there is one team that has been America's favorite team: The U.S. women's national soccer team! This team has been astoundingly--historically-- popular for many, many years. The team's ability to draw crowds and ratings and become household names has persisted through changes in the lineup and in the coaching staff. Through different World Cup and Olympic cycles. From one century to the next. This team keeps breaking records for attendance and for television viewership--not just for women's sports but for soccer, in general. And it is likely to keep doing so. During history there have been other very popu­lar American sports teams. For example, the 1980 men's hockey team became legendary for its "Miracle on Ice" gold medal run at the Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, when it beat the powerful Soviet Union. The 1992 Dream Team--the nickname for the men's Olympic basketball team that played in the Barcelona Olympics--had some of the most famous players to ever play basketball on its roster. Those were teams that all of America cheered for. But they were mostly popular because of singular events. They didn't sustain that popularity year after year after year. That's a hard thing to do, because faces change, fans get distracted, national teams play only in certain events and not every week. Interest goes up and down. The men's basketball players were best known for their NBA affiliations. They were already famous when they put on the USA uniforms. They didn't have to work to make fans. But the women's soccer team has always known how important it is to connect with their young fans. To bring their sport to different parts of the country. They have always been a team that everyone could cheer for, no matter what part of the country they live in. The U.S. women's soccer team players are best known, first and foremost, for representing the United States. They are a team that unites America. And can make us proud. A long time ago, people would have been shocked that a women's sports team could fill the role of America's favorite team. Women's sports weren't con­sidered very interesting or taken very seriously. But the U.S. women's soccer team helped change those ideas forever. The team first came into existence in 1985, but nobody really paid much attention to it back then despite the fact that soccer is the most popular sport in the world. Soccer was far behind other sports in the United States. And women's team sports were just starting out as an entity to be taken seriously. It took several years and a lot of hard work by the players to get noticed and build an impressive wom­en's national soccer tradition in the United States. In 1996, when the women's team won a gold medal at the Atlanta Olympics, it was the first time that women's soccer got any national attention. Onlookers were totally surprised by how many fans packed the stands to watch the team earn the gold medal, with a victory over China. Not only was the U.S. women's team's rise to the top of the sport amazing, but so was the way fans embraced it. It was an example of "grassroots" popu­larity, because it started from the bottom and grew upward. Fans found the team and its popularity grew and grew, until finally media outlets and corporate advertisers had to take it seriously. A lot of the sports experts didn't see it coming. With momentum building, in 1999, the team's popularity exploded. The U.S. women won a World Cup in the United States by defeating China and capti­vated the country, selling out giant NFL stadiums and attracting huge TV ratings. It was the biggest women's sporting event in our nation's history. The individual players like Mia Hamm and Brandi Chastain became as famous as many male athletes, which had never happened for female athletes who play team sports. Though the players on the roster have changed in the past two decades, the team's popularity hasn't. In fact, it only continues to expand. In the 2015 Women's World Cup, the final game drew twenty-three million viewers, making it the most watched soccer match--including games played by men--in American history. Why is the American women's soccer team so popular? It's an especially interesting question because our country doesn't have as long or as rich a soccer his­tory as many other countries. First, the team has been incredibly successful. Thanks to laws in our country that we will talk more about later, young American women have had many opportunities to play sports. Our soccer team has taken advantage of all of those chances. The players have been very, very talented, winning three World Cup championships, four Olympic gold medals, and one silver medal. The U.S. women's team has been able to sustain success, starting from its early beginnings until today. In fact, the team is historically so good that every­one was shocked during the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro when it was knocked out in the quarterfinals against Sweden. It was the first time the American women had failed to advance to at least the semifinals of a major tournament. Another reason the team is so popular is that it represents something that we all value in America: the fight for equality. The women who play the game have broken down barriers and have fought hard to be treated equally as athletes. They have helped to change ideas about what it means to be a strong, suc­cessful woman. They make us feel proud and remind us of what it means to strive for greatness. Over the years, members of the team have made great efforts to connect with their audience and be accessible, and they continue to work to boost the sport's following by interacting with fans and starting soccer clinics for young, aspiring athletes. They have helped build women's soccer into a national phenom­enon, paving the way for future generations of young girls to continue the tradition. Here's another reason the women's team is so pop­ular: Soccer is a sport that is very similar no matter who is playing it, men or women. In other sports, like basketball, women's teams are often compared to the men's and sometimes that comparison works against them because they're not as tall, they don't dunk as much, and so on. Almost all of the female athletes who play baseball get encouraged to eventually switch to softball, a very different sport. And few women play football at any level. But soccer has the same rules. A match looks the same no matter the gender of the teams playing on the pitch. This is a book about what makes women's soccer so special. About the most important players--not neces­sarily the best but the ones with the biggest impact--in the world, both Americans and those from other coun­tries. You might have a different list, but that's one of the fun parts about sports: picking our own favorites and deciding what we value most in an athlete. In this book, you'll also read about the history of the game and the big events that have shaped it. Included in the stories of the players and important games is also the story of how far women's sports has come over the years. And you'll even learn about the next generation that will carry the sport forward. These are the champions of women's soccer who have changed the world of sports. Excerpted from Champions of Women's Soccer by Ann Killion All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.

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