Jules’ Tools for Social Change: Foot Notes; an interview with Laurie Ricou

Dear Reader,Welcome to this month’s edition of Jules’ Tools for Social Change, a column that features a book, author or publisher whose work deals with issues of race, gender, sexuality, ability, colonialism, economic justice, or other social justice topics.This month’s featured title is Foot Notes by Laurie Ricou, published by Oolichan Books.From the publisher:Foot Notes: Telling Stories of Girls’ Soccer reflects on 35 years coaching girls’ and women’s soccer. The book is a bit of memoir, a bit of guidebook, a smattering of literary commentary, a dose of nostalgia and confessional, sprinkled with some sports journalism.Foot Notes is a tribute to soccer players and coaches, an appreciation of the game itself, its endemic and unnoticed presence, and the grass and gravel it’s played upon. It’s a book about teaching and learning from players and teams. Mostly it’s a love story, a gift to your granddaughters.Foot Notes urges attentive listening to other’s stories as it shapes, shares, and cherishes stories of girls in soccer.In this year when Canada hosts the Women’s World Cup, join Laurie Ricou in his celebration of the beautiful game.I interviewed Laurie by email about soccer, girls’ participation in sports, and depictions of female athletes in the media. For you sports fans: the Pan Am Games may be over, but don’t forget that the Para Pan Am Games begin August 7!’Til next time,JuliaJulia Horel: How did you come to be a soccer coach? What do you love about it?Laurie Ricou: I began coaching, as so many parents do, because my daughter’s team was without a coach and needed someone, anyone, to fill in until the end of the season. If a coach watches, and listens attentively, she or he will find some growth in every player, every game—and the privilege of coaching will be sharing every day in the joy of learning through play. JH: What are some of the benefits of sports for girls? Why do so many girls quit sports when they reach their teens, and how can we encourage them to continue to participate as they grow up?LR: Team sports develop cooperation, a sense of community, tolerance, mutual encouragement and understanding, not to mention the love of playing for its own sake. I am not sure what the statistics are, but in my own experience, girls who are playing in Grade 8 are still playing in Grade 12. The ones who do quit soccer, often do so to concentrate on volleyball, rugby, or sailing. And those who leave to concentrate on academics, musical theatre, or student politics, usually pick up sports and physical activity again quickly, certainly by their post-secondary years. JH: Media coverage of women’s sports is very different from coverage of men’s sports (consider the New York Times’ recent article about Serena Williams and body image). What can we do to promote more positive coverage of women’s sports that will make girls feel good about being athletes?LR: I may be naive, but I believe almost all the young women I have been fortunate to coach feel good about being athletes. Supportive and enthusiastic coaching eventually builds support and enthusiasm in the wider community. As Foot Notes remarks, consider the difference between the audience numbers in Sweden in 1995, and the sold out 54,000 plus who watched Canada play England in the World Cup 2015 a few weeks ago.JH: Your publisher describes Foot Notes as “a bit of memoir, a bit of guidebook, a smattering of literary commentary, a dose of nostalgia and confessional, sprinkled with some sports journalism.” Who is the intended audience? Is the purpose mainly nostalgic, or is it also intended as a call to action for current and future players and coaches?LR: The book is dedicated to the young women I have coached and to all young women playing this game. And to my granddaughters. That dedication provides the best description of my hoped-for audience. And I hope the book is more tribute than manifesto.JH: Do you have a favourite anecdote from the book you can share with us?LR: The best moments for a coach—the book seeks to honour these—are the occasions when the players take over the coaching. When Camille teaches us Ultimate, or Kendra unasked sits down at the piano and begins to sing to her teammates. In one section of the book, Grade 8 student Sophie writes about what she has gained and what she has given up to play soccer: “when I look at myself in the mirror, all that I see is a shin-pad wearing, mud-splattered, dirty, sweaty, ick, aggressive, soccer playing girl. And I’m fine with that.”JH: You mentioned during our correspondence that the book weaves in and out of Canadian literature. What are some of the references or influences readers may recognize in the book? LR: The author/coach taught Canadian literature at UBC for 35 years. So soccer and Can Lit intersect here in a book about story. George Bowering and I jest about the absence of soccer in Canadian literature, but the book does find valuable perspectives in poems by Tim Bowling, Don McKay, and Michael Ondaatje, and telling moments in fiction from Paul Yee and Eden Robinson, among others. I note that of all the books my students read in the course “Literature and Sport,” the one they most wanted to keep in their personal libraries was Michael Kusugak’s moving dream-vision Northern Lights: The SoccerTrails [a children’s book from Annick Press].* * *You can find more sports books on this handy book list and if you like bad sports puns and cliches, you can get caught up on our Pan Lit Games before the final throw down tomorrow!