Soccerwomen The icons, rebels, stars, and trailblazers who transformed the beautiful game

We have The Football Man (1968), Soccer Men (2011) and, now, long overdue, Soccer­Women. British sports journalist Clarke offers 50 profiles of the players and coaches who have shaped the women's game, from the pseudonymous Nettie J. Honeyball, who shocked Victorian England by founding the British Ladies' Football Club, to Carson Pickett, a talented defender in the U.S. National Women's Soccer League. The solidly written entries, which range from two pages to a half-dozen, cover women from across the globe, although nearly half focus on players and coaches for the dominant U.S. Women's National Soccer Team. Five time periods (1890s-1980s, 1990s, 2000s, 2010s, and 2020s) are introduced by short summaries detailing the challenges faced and progress made by women's soccer; younger readers will be outraged to discover how often men have used false claims about women's bodies to deny women the right to play, or to play as equals. There is still a long way to go, particularly in terms of equal pay but, as Clarke so capably shows, we've come a long way, too.--Keir Graff Copyright 2019 Booklist

American interest in women's soccer has grown since the U.S. national team won the first-ever world championship in 1991, though that interest waxes and wanes along the four-year Olympic and World Cup cycle. But the story of women's soccer is international and has a long history. Sportswriter Clarke tells this account through a series of short biographies of some of the women who shaped the game, from the earliest pioneers fighting for the right to play to the up-and-coming stars advocating for equality, both within the game and on the larger world stage. Using extensive interviews of different players and coaches, Clarke reveals the challenges that players such as Brazil's Marta, China's Sun Wen, and America's Abby Wambach have faced to gain respect and recognition as athletes as well as to celebrate their accomplishments and victories. VERDICT Similar to Gwendolyn Oxenham's recent Under the Lights and in the Dark, while offering more of a historical perspective on the women's game. Soccer fans will enjoy learning more about these athletes.--Michael C. Miller, Austin P.L. & Austin History Ctr., TX © Copyright 2019. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.