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Title details for The Striker and the Clock by Georgia Cloepfil - Available

The Striker and the Clock

On Being in the Game

by Georgia Cloepfil
Georgia Cloepfil
Audiobook
1 of 1 copy available
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1 of 1 copy available
An illuminating perspective on the life of an athlete and the pursuit of excellence outside the spotlight.
Georgia Cloepfil played professional soccer for six years, on six teams, in six countries. In those years, the sport became more than a game—it was an immersive yet transient way of life. In South Korea, she lived and practiced in an isolated island compound next to an airport. In Australia, she coached youth teams on the side to pay her rent. In Lithuania, she played in the European Champions League, to empty stadiums and little fanfare. She lived out of a single suitcase, chasing better opportunities and the euphoria of playing well.  
The Striker and the Clock is a beautiful examination of the joy and pain of serious athletics. It’s also an eye-opening look at the still-developing world of professional women’s soccer. Written in ninety short passages—reflecting the ninety inexorably passing minutes of a soccer match—the book is a love letter to a maddening sport and a reflection on the way it has shaped a life. In vivid prose, it portrays the athlete as an artist, debating how much of herself to devote to her craft. 
This finely wrought, singular book celebrates the complex appeal of sports and the fulfillment found in fleeting moments of glory.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    July 16, 2024

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9780593867846
      • File size: 108397 KB
      • Duration: 03:45:49

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • Publisher's Weekly

      May 20, 2024
      Former professional soccer player Cloepfil debuts with a spare but potent account of her nomadic years on the field. In 90 short, meditative chapters (one for each minute of a soccer game), Cloepfil catalogs the highs and lows of her tenures on club teams in the U.S., Australia, Sweden, South Korea, Lithuania, and Norway across the 2010s, noting the elation she felt on the field and sexism she faced off of it. She underscores the persistent pay gap between men’s and women’s players (in the Australian Premier League, women made nothing for playing, while men took home a $1,000 weekly honorarium), highlighting the work she took coaching and writing newsletters just to keep the lights on during some seasons. Still, she evocatively captures the thrill of victory (one high school win in Oregon has her screaming with “enormous, animal relief”) and stresses that she would still be playing had she not suffered a series of debilitating injuries (“I miss it every moment of every day, I will for the rest of my life”). It amounts to an intimate glimpse at the determination and drive required to hack it in pro sports. Even casual soccer fans will devour this. Agent: Laura Usselman, Stuart Krichevsky Literary.

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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