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Thu, 04/16/2009

Penguin's Spring Sports Extravaganza - SOCCER::

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The April Spring Sports Extravaganza continues with a tribute to soccer - er, you know, football! Quite possibly the world's most popular sport, soccer certainly has a great number of fanatical fans!

Penguin also pays tribute to this worldwide wonder sport with several new publications!

Kick the Balls by Alan Black
An Offensive Suburban Odyssey

Listen to a podcast with the author.

Coming to Paperback May 26, 2009!

$23.95 - Add to Cart

Synopsis:

Fever Pitch meets Trainspotting in this laugh-outloud, caustic account of one man's attempt to coach a peewee soccer team

When Alan Black was a child growing up in Glasgow, Scotland, soccer-or what he called fitba'-was the be all and end all. His experience was not the little league, boys-of-summer stuff of modern America. For him, it was life and death. Now middleaged and living in California, Alan finds himself coaching a team of eight-year-olds in his beloved sport-and nothing is going right.

For a start, the kids are no good at soccer. Secondly, they're pampered. Born and bred on the sport, Black's hardscrabble Scottish upbringing consisted of playing tough and victory at all costs. Needless to say, his coaching methods are a far cry from the "winning isn't everything" mentality his little leaguers have been reared with; and players and parents alike are shocked as Black attempts to transform the losing team through drills and bombast. Alone at night, watching evangelicals on TV, Black finds himself searching for some truth in the culture he finds so bizarre. And it's with the Tigers that he feels most out of sync-faced with a mix of soft suburban children, a raft of overprotective parents, and an Iranian co-coach called Ali. Told with Black's uproarious Scottish sensibility, Kick the Balls follows the abrasive, irreverent, and hilarious coach as he contends with a team that winds up with a zero-win record.

Both a celebration of his own tough childhood and an account of one man's navigation of an alien culture, Kick the Balls will delight fans of well-told, laugh-out-loud memoirs.

The Complete Idiot's Guide to Soccer Basics by Sam Borden

$14.99 - Add to Cart

Synopsis:

The ultimate resource for getting on the ball.

The Complete Idiot's Guide® to Soccer Basics explains anything and everything a parent or new coach needs to know to understand the game and make the most of a child's soccer experience. From the rules of the game to playing techniques, this is a one-volume course for parents and children to score winning goals.

- Since 1974, total individual participation in U.S. soccer programs has grown from 100,000 to more than 3 million, primarily young players between the ages of 6 and 14

- Most parents of today's youth soccer players didn't play soccer themselves growing up, and will welcome this reference book

- Includes game strategies and practice techniques for every player position