Soccer the Winning Way

John Walker is a professor of Spanish at Queen’s University.

This fine introduction to soccer features coaches and young players from
the B.C. region. The team is headed by Bob Lenarduzzi, former Canadian
National Team coach.

The book is divided into five sections. “Kick Off” deals with
equipment, boots, balls, food, fitness, and fair play. “Ball
Control” demonstrates through various drills the skills of ball
movement, passing, receiving, and ranging direction. “Playing
Defense” focuses on positioning, marking, clearing the ball, set
plays, and defensive strategies. “On the Attack” emphasizes
positioning, shooting, finishing plays, and offensive set plays.
“Goalkeeping” demonstrates ball handling, positioning, making the
save, clearing the ball, and communication. All of these instructional
drills are shown in excellent color photographs of boys and girls in
action. Also included are first-class demonstrations and quotations from
such world-class stars as Michael Owen and David Beckham (England),
Rivaldo (Brazil), Mia Hamm (U.S. Women’s National team), Sun Wan
(Chinese Women’s National team), and Nicci Wright (Canadian Women’s
National team goalkeeper).

The text is well presented and the instructions are clear and helpful.
Bob Mackin and the B.C. coaching team are to be commended for producing
such a useful handbook from which young people can learn the basics of
the game by following the example of some of the best professionals.
Highly recommended.