FIFA World Cup

Photo by Rhett Lewis on Unsplash

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Sports Heroes & Heroines

FIFA's Men's World Cup finals, played every four years, is watched by more people than any other sporting event with over 5 billion people projected to watch this year's competition.

Given the likelihood you live with a young sports and/or soccer fan, I thought you might be interested in a few of the books about athletes reviewed at Stories Matter Heroes and Heroines.

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Venus and Serena are extraordinary athletes, changing the game of tennis by the number of their wins and smashing records for decades - Serena continues to be regarded as the greatest female tennis player of all time. 

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The traits worthy of our children's admiration include not just athleticism, but determination, perseverance, grit and humility. Jim Thorpe was the personification of these traits, as well as the bearer of remarkable athletic skill in track, football, lacrosse, basketball and tennis. 

Thorpe is a hero for all children.

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"You have to be tough to play baseball in a skirt."

The women who played in the All American Girls Professional Baseball League, started during World War II were tough - in a four-month season, they played 120 games, one every night and doubleheaders on Saturday or Sunday. 

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Lee negotiated with his Dad to continue studying to become a doctor at the same time he continued to train and enter diving competitions and he was the first Asian American to win an Olympic Gold Medal!

Lee's contribution to diving continued long after he earned Gold Medals; he coached Bob Webster and Greg Louganis on to Gold and Silver Olympic Medals.

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Duke embodied aloha - a life of love, kindness, grace and compassion - throughout his life, even when faced with racism or other obstacles. His swimming and surfing are legendary, but he was beloved for his aloha.

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