TN #8 - Soccerland

 

U.S. Soccer Director of Women's Development Jill Ellis
http://www.ussoccer.com/~/media/210F445109CA4E558FB54ED2CECA1E96.ashx?w=400&h=300

To the right you will see the picture of Jill Ellis.  This year, approximately 100 14 year old girls will be working at one of three camps across the country attempting to get her attention.  Why?  She is the United States Soccer Director of Women's Development.  That means that she is a part of a team that decides which girls have what it takes to make the United States National Team and which will be playing soccer on the local level until they find something else to do.  Harsh, right?  Well, when thousands of girls are dreaming of being the next Mia Hamm  or Brandi Chastain, and only eleven positions (+substitutions) to be filled on a team, only so many can make it and to make it you can't just be good, you have to be unbelievable good.

So why am I focusing on what Ms. Ellis does?  Why, because our next selection, Soccerland, is based on what Ms. Ellis does for a living, finding the next U.S. U-15 Women's Soccer Team.

I could write about the author Beth Choat, but I think that the following video, from the author really lets you why she wrote this book and what it is about, so make sure to click on the video and take a look.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jQr5-BX7So4

Ladies, if you love sports - playing it or watching it, I really think you will enjoy this book.  Me, I had a hard time putting it down.  It follows the typical story and pretty much ends up about how you expect it to, but it is a detailed story about what it takes to make it to the national level.  Something we really don't ever get to hear about.  And its about the girls, whereas most sports stories are about boys.

Guys, there are a lot of hits and soccer terms, and just a little bit of romance - not too much.  These girls put sports first.  So, you may actually like it.

Ms. Choat has really put some research into this training camp and it shows throughout the book.  When I looked up the U.S. Olympic Complex Training Center in Colorado and the U.S. Soccer Youth Development Teams the information really did line up.

On my goodreads.com site I gave it 5 stars, let me know what you think.


Works Cited
"About the Author." Welcome to the ISA. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 June 2012. <http://theinternationalsportsacademy.com/author.html>.
"Brandi Chastain." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 19 June 2012. Web. 20 June 2012. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brandi_Chastain>.
Choat, Beth. Soccerland. Tarrytown, NY: Marshall Cavendish, 2010. Print.
Choat, Greg. "Soccerland." YouTube. YouTube, 17 Apr. 2012. Web. 20 June 2012. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jQr5-BX7So4>.
"Colorado Springs." Team USA. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 June 2012. <http://www.teamusa.org/About-the-USOC/Training-Centers-and-Sites/Colorado-Springs.aspx>.
"Jillian Ellis." - U.S. Soccer. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 June 2012. <http://www.ussoccer.com/teams/team-staff/jillian-ellis.aspx>.
"Mia Hamm." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 19 June 2012. Web. 20 June 2012. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mia_Hamm>.
"U.S. U-14 GNT to Hold First Training Camp of 2012 at The Home Depot Center." - U.S. Soccer. N.p., 7 May 2012. Web. 20 June 2012. <http://www.ussoccer.com/news/u-14-national-development-program/2012/05/u14-gnt-to-hold-first-training-camp-of-2012.aspx>.
"U.S. Under-14 NDP." - U.S. Soccer. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 June 2012. <http://www.ussoccer.com/Teams/Youth/US-Under-14-NDP.aspx>.
"Welcome to the ISA." Welcome to the ISA. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 June 2012. <http://theinternationalsportsacademy.com/index.html>.