About
A Youth Soccer Coach's Investigation into The Origins of Soccermainia
On July 10, 1999, 100,000 Americans, mostly women, did something they had not done before, at least not in such numbers. They showed up to watch a soccer match.
Their attendance at the 1999 Women's World Cup Final took the world by surprise, forcing it to recognize much about itself that it had been in denial of for quite some time. Who were these soccer fans? Where had they come from? Why had no one noticed them before?
Award winning journalist Jim Haner asks these questions, and others, as he sets off in search of the origins of the American passion for soccer, uncovering the game's roots in an early industrial Northeast and following them up through the transcontinental suburban present. But Haner is by no means a passive historian of the game, he is the coach of the Hornets, a rag-tag team of ten nine-year-old boys and one determined little girl. Haner provides us with an intimate view of his team's struggles and successes over the course of season, and of his own transformation from reluctant soccer dad to authentic 'soccerhead'.
Seamlessly weaving personal and historical narrative threads, “Soccerhead” is both an enticing memoir and a cultural inquiry of the first-order-enlightening, entertaining, and informative-shedding new light on a little known chapter of American history.
On July 10, 1999, 100,000 Americans, mostly women, did something they had not done before, at least not in such numbers. They showed up to watch a soccer match.
Their attendance at the 1999 Women's World Cup Final took the world by surprise, forcing it to recognize much about itself that it had been in denial of for quite some time. Who were these soccer fans? Where had they come from? Why had no one noticed them before?
Award winning journalist Jim Haner asks these questions, and others, as he sets off in search of the origins of the American passion for soccer, uncovering the game's roots in an early industrial Northeast and following them up through the transcontinental suburban present. But Haner is by no means a passive historian of the game, he is the coach of the Hornets, a rag-tag team of ten nine-year-old boys and one determined little girl. Haner provides us with an intimate view of his team's struggles and successes over the course of season, and of his own transformation from reluctant soccer dad to authentic 'soccerhead'.
Seamlessly weaving personal and historical narrative threads, “Soccerhead” is both an enticing memoir and a cultural inquiry of the first-order-enlightening, entertaining, and informative-shedding new light on a little known chapter of American history.
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Reviews
"Jim Haner's book is a delight, not just reported and observed but lived and felt. It shows how soccer has invaded America's soul from the playgrounds up, just as Haner learned everything he needs to know about the game, and sports, from kids."
Mark Bowden
"By turns laugh-out-loud funny, wise and irreverent, SOCCERHEAD hurls the reader into the world of youth soccer, where writer Jim Haner spins a story about a sport into a goldmine of human drama. Issues of parenting, gender and the nature of obsession ricochet through the text. But the real payoff here is Haner, whose intoxicating voice and fierce insights make for a wild ride."
Lauren Cowen