A Game-Winning Collaboration: Soccer & Books (Article #41)
As the FIFA World Cup kicks off today, one story illustrates how literacy can become part of sports culture.
In college, a satirical campus magazine joked that the sorority of which I was a member was populated with future Volvo-driving soccer moms. While I do not own a Volvo, I have completely embraced the “Soccer Mom” title. I did not think that title would ever morph into “Soccer Mom Coach.”
Coaching was never part of my plan. Yes, I grew up playing sports, and my dad even coached one of my inline hockey teams for years, but I would have laughed in your face if you told me one day I would be coaching my daughter’s third-grade soccer team.
That didn’t stop me from encouraging my husband to volunteer as a coach when the sign-up form came out for the spring season. He grew up playing recreational soccer through college. With a little prodding from me, he offered to serve as an assistant coach. As the season approached, though, the soccer organization reached out to ask if he would consider taking the role of head coach because no one else had volunteered. If he agreed, then would he scout out his own assistant coach? He immediately came to me, and with some prodding on his part, I agreed to assist. I hadn’t played soccer since sixth grade, but I have been a teacher for 15 years, so I figured we could do this: He knew soccer; I knew how to motivate children.
We ended up having a Taylor Swift “Long Live” type of season for many reasons, but given that this Substack is about literacy, I will focus on our end-of-season celebration. I knew I wanted to capture the magic of the season in some way, so I began with the idea of individual soccer awards and a printed team photo for each of the girls, but gifting books truly brings me joy.
First, though, let me say this: After years of teaching high school English, I got tired of student-athletes telling me they had no time for reading because of their sports schedules. I know sports schedules can be demanding, but I found this excuse absurd, wishing more professional athletes would promote their literacy life.
One such athlete is professional soccer player Alex Morgan, who has won two World Cups and an Olympic Gold Medal.
She also is the author of The Kicks, a middle-grade series about a soccer player who moves from the East Coast to a new school on the West Coast, only to discover her school’s soccer team is less than stellar. The series covers the ups and downs of the main character’s new life at a new school with new friends and a new soccer team.
My daughter and I first discovered the storyline through Prime, where we could stream a one-season series based on the book series. Unfortunately, the series was not renewed even though my daughter and I found the episodes engaging and family-friendly with great lessons about leadership, teamwork and decision-making. The episodes prompted some thoughtful discussions between my daughter and me, so I hope some day the Amazon Original series makes a comeback.
Although we have yet to read the books, we started giving the series’ first book as a present when my daughter was invited to attend birthday parties of female friends who also played the sport (See more book-giving ideas in Article #3: “The Gift of Reading: The Gift of a Book”). This pattern gave way to the idea that I could also give the book to the girls I’d spent the last eight weeks coaching. My daughter didn’t think it was a bad idea but noted it seemed weird that a coach was handing out books. That’s when I knew I could lay a different foundation for these girls with a book; I could normalize the link between sports and literacy.
It was my mom who suggested I mark the significance of the gift inside the front cover, so I created a label that read, “For a kickin’ good 2026 spring soccer season!” and included the name of our team, the soccer organization, and our names as the coaches. It was a former teaching colleague who then suggested I fall back on my years of advising a high school’s yearbook by encouraging the girls to sign each other’s books at the end-of-season celebration. My mom loved the idea so much, she donated a large box of glitter gel pens for the occasion.
Because our final games coincided with the last day of the girls’ third grade school year, the yearbook approach to the book-giving seemed seasonally appropriate. It also helps ensure the book becomes a keepsake; therefore, even if the girls do not read it now, there is hope they will pick it up at a later date before it ever gets thrown into the donation pile.
Among the post-game treats, books, gel pens, pictures, certificates, and medals, it was the books the girls noticed first.
“What are these?” they asked, intrigued, immediately reaching for them. I had to fend them off, reminding them a few times to be patient and to please wait.
I’ll admit this: despite the novelty of spotting books at a soccer field, I only received noncommittal “maybes” about whether or not the girls actually planned to read them. They eagerly signed each other’s copies, some leaving each other messages. I also reminded the team that the local library was hosting its summer-reading kick-off event that same day and that I hoped to see them there. I saw one mom flash me a smile and a thumbs up. I’d seen her reading on the sidelines at soccer practices. She even regaled the girls with fun facts from Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari during a practice’s water breaks.
Recently, I saw another library’s summer reading theme: “Plant A Seed, Read!” That slogan feels fitting here. I have no idea how many of my players will read The Kicks this summer. My own daughter hasn’t shown much inclination to do so yet; however, I will take the small seeds sown by the mother on the sidelines and by my husband and me putting a book in each girl’s hands at the end of the season– both show a group of ten girls that sports and reading do coexist and can be cool combined.
With the FIFA World Cup beginning today, June 11, 2026, I encourage you to think about the soccer fans, or really any sports fans in your life, and how you can pair literacy with their love of athleticism. Alex Morgan is not the only athlete to promote reading. There are also many sports-themed fiction and nonfiction books out there.
Helping my students find quality sports literature was never a strong suit of mine, but I am looking forward to growing in this area. I will end by giving a shout-out to one Substack writer, Katie Quinn, who is helping me expand my sports literature repertoire. Check out her work at The Sports Librarian, which aids readers in finding “the best nonfiction books about sports, athletes, coaches, and adventure.”
As the Sports Librarian is doing, let’s also show the next generation of readers that books can permeate every aspect of life, including sport culture.
And that’s just one more way we can make reading VISIBLE. VITAL. VALUED— together.
My favorite book as a kid was "Go for the Goal" by Mia Hamm. Love seeing Alex Morgan write and inspire kids today!
This is such a great idea, and letting the girls sign each other copies makes it really special too. Thank you for sharing!