Winning Soccer for Girls - Hardcover

Deborah W. Crisfield is a freelance writer, editor, and sports coach for elementary, junior high, and high school teams. She lives in Summit, NJ. Mark Gola is a contributing sportswriter for Princeton Alumni Weekly and the managing editor of Mountain Lion, Inc., a sports book packager. The author and co-author of several books on sports skills, he lives in Rocky Hill, NJ.

One doesn't need a Gallup poll to realize that the number-one sport among young kids is soccer, but if youngsters are ever going to progress, they'll need coaching--and not from inexperienced parents. Crisfield, a freelance writer and--more importantly--an experienced youth soccer coach, provides a very solid foundation with which to increase skills. And there's nothing here that would limit the text's application to girls' soccer. The author discusses rules and equipment; stretching and training; ball control; receiving, passing, shooting, and heading; and goalkeeping. There's also a concise but valuable overview of basic strategy. A key element, often missing in other soccer instructionals, is Crisfield's guide to the skills and strategy needed for the game's many restarts (corner kicks, throw-ins, penalty kicks, etc.). Seventy-six black-and-white photos complement the text effectively. An exceptionally well done instructional. Wes Lukowsky