I'm writing this rather later than I had planned, thanks to the England Denmark match going into extra time...and then needing to recover/celebrate afterwards.
Football never used to mean that much to me. But then my son - aged six - joined a team, and my life as a football mum began. It lasted a full decade - he quit just before GCSEs. In that time I learned to appreciate the beautiful game, and particularly the drama of the youth games, where it's perfectly plausible that you might lose 20-0, parents behave incredibly badly, and characters are formed, friendships are forged, and lives changed.
One of my books (Salvage) came about because of a conversation I had with another mother on the touchline. She was a social worker, working with adopted children, Had I thought of writing a book about reunited siblings? Well yes...funnily enough....
Another book (The Liar's Handbook) is set around a youth football team, as River come to terms with having a stepfather - Jason, who steps up as assistant manager of the team - and discovers a father and half brother he never knew he had.
If you're looking for great football books for young readers, you can't do better than Mal Peet's Keeper books - stunning writing. Then there's Jonny Zucker's Striker Boy, which is inspiring and entertaining.
For girl players, try Helena Pielichaty's Girls FC series. And Eve Ainsworth has a new series out starting with Kicking Off, which tells the story of England's first women's team, the Dick, Kerr Girls team.
And of course, Marcus Rashford, part of England's squad has just published his own first book You Are a Champion: How to Be the Best You Can Be - a bit of inspiration for everyone.
Let's hope the England's team luck carries on until Sunday's final!
1 comment:
Agree with you about the pleasure of watching local football.
I hope though that England lose. Or..., trying hard to put national prejudices to one side..., maybe a draw. For me, in a country with a rather nasty, by UK standards, right wing government.., the prospect of victorious jingoistic outpourings is rather excruciating.
I was idly considering that about the only time I could conceivably look favourably
at the sight of Three Lions on Boris's shirt might be at Longleat Safari Park.
Whatever the competitive goings on among youngsters' parents , the great things about local, community and school football..., is that generally you don't get beaten up, threatened to be so treated, or have laser pointers directed towards the opposition's goalkeeper.
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