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Soccerhead: An Accidental Journey Into the Heart of the American Game

Soccerhead: An Accidental Journey Into the Heart of the American Game Cover

ISBN13: 9780865476943
ISBN10: 0865476942
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Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments:

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.

Review:

"The year his son turned six, Haner was shanghaied by a group of local parents into coaching the College Park Hornets, a scrappy group of boys (and one girl) finding their legs on the pee-wee soccer fields outside Washington, D.C. His book charts his ensuing obsession with the sport in language as brisk as the game. Between weekly matches, Haner, a Baltimore Sun writer, pores over books, visits fabled soccer homelands and interviews legends to uncover the American heart of this foreign game. Although Native Americans played a version of soccer with a deerskin ball, the sport really took root in the U.S. in the 1930s, when immigrant workers played in raucous leagues. Walter Bahr, who took the winning shot against the English in a 1950 World Cup game, tells Haner how his team of blue-collar laborers stunned some of the world's best players. But Haner learns the essence of the sport from his kids. Watching them play, he sees how fluidity, creativity and trust reign in this simple game. After the Hornets lose a county championship, Haner concludes, 'There is a God... and he gave us soccer at the dawn of time so that we would never forget who is in charge.'" Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)

Synopsis:

An award winning journalist 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.

Synopsis:

A YOUTH SOCCER COACH'S INVESTIGATION INTO THE ORIGINS OF SOCCERMANIA
 
Before his son enlisted for a season of Youth Soccer at the neighborhood Boys and Girls Club in College Park, Maryland, Jim Haner was just your typical white, middle-class, suburban father. And as an award-winning journalist for The Sun (Baltimore), he was more likely to write about scoundrels than soccer. But his son caught the bug, and before long, Haner was giving pep talks to nine-year-olds in shin guards and cleats and the game had become an all-consuming obsession.

Digging deep into the historical record, Haner sets out to document the soccer craze from the bottom up, tracing the rises and falls in the game's popularity in the decades since "Mob Ball" fever was spread by the influx of immigrants on our shores, up to the current wave of "soccermania." The result is a rollicking and timely read.

"[Haner's] enthusiasm and good humor is infectious, the history is genuinely interesting, and anyone who doubts that soccer games between nine-year-olds can be chronicled with the same verve and intensity of professional or collegiate sports need look no further . . . Belongs with Franklin Foer's How Soccer Explains the World (2004) as a must-read for people puzzled by soccer's popularity." --Booklist (starred review)

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About the Author

Jim Haner is an award-winning journalist with the Baltimore Sun.

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What Our Readers Are Saying

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Average customer rating based on 1 comment:
cgberling, October 19, 2006 (view all comments by cgberling)
The old saying is "It takes one to know one" and Jim Haner, with his book, SOCCERHEAD, is obviously one who has been there. This is a book for every budding and budded youth soccer coach, with a stream of consciousness about getting involved and maybe staying involved. Warts and all are exposed to the reader in a way which provides humor, great experiences, fundamental philosophy and the grit of dealing with nine-year-olds as they take on the world's game. It's a must read before one takes on the challenge. Better to go in knowing what lies ahead rather than screwing it up when one gets there. Haner delivers reality and has lived to tell the tale.
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Product Details

ISBN:
9780865476943
Subtitle:
An Accidental Journey into the Heart of the American Game
Publisher:
North Point Press
Author:
Haner, Jim
Subject:
United states
Subject:
Soccer
Subject:
Coaching - Soccer
Publication Date:
20070403
Binding:
Electronic book text in proprietary or open standard format
Language:
English
Pages:
288
Dimensions:
8.54x6.02x1.03 in. .97 lbs.
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Soccerhead: An Accidental Journey Into the Heart of the American Game
0 stars - 0 reviews
$ In Stock
Product details 288 pages North Point Press - English 9780865476943 Reviews:
"Publishers Weekly Review" by , "The year his son turned six, Haner was shanghaied by a group of local parents into coaching the College Park Hornets, a scrappy group of boys (and one girl) finding their legs on the pee-wee soccer fields outside Washington, D.C. His book charts his ensuing obsession with the sport in language as brisk as the game. Between weekly matches, Haner, a Baltimore Sun writer, pores over books, visits fabled soccer homelands and interviews legends to uncover the American heart of this foreign game. Although Native Americans played a version of soccer with a deerskin ball, the sport really took root in the U.S. in the 1930s, when immigrant workers played in raucous leagues. Walter Bahr, who took the winning shot against the English in a 1950 World Cup game, tells Haner how his team of blue-collar laborers stunned some of the world's best players. But Haner learns the essence of the sport from his kids. Watching them play, he sees how fluidity, creativity and trust reign in this simple game. After the Hornets lose a county championship, Haner concludes, 'There is a God... and he gave us soccer at the dawn of time so that we would never forget who is in charge.'" Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)
"Synopsis" by , An award winning journalist 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.
"Synopsis" by ,
A YOUTH SOCCER COACH'S INVESTIGATION INTO THE ORIGINS OF SOCCERMANIA
 
Before his son enlisted for a season of Youth Soccer at the neighborhood Boys and Girls Club in College Park, Maryland, Jim Haner was just your typical white, middle-class, suburban father. And as an award-winning journalist for The Sun (Baltimore), he was more likely to write about scoundrels than soccer. But his son caught the bug, and before long, Haner was giving pep talks to nine-year-olds in shin guards and cleats and the game had become an all-consuming obsession.

Digging deep into the historical record, Haner sets out to document the soccer craze from the bottom up, tracing the rises and falls in the game's popularity in the decades since "Mob Ball" fever was spread by the influx of immigrants on our shores, up to the current wave of "soccermania." The result is a rollicking and timely read.

"[Haner's] enthusiasm and good humor is infectious, the history is genuinely interesting, and anyone who doubts that soccer games between nine-year-olds can be chronicled with the same verve and intensity of professional or collegiate sports need look no further . . . Belongs with Franklin Foer's How Soccer Explains the World (2004) as a must-read for people puzzled by soccer's popularity." --Booklist (starred review)
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