Soccer Dad: A Memoir and Guide by David Murray
SOCCER DAD
A Memoir and a Guide ~ David Murray ~
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About the Book
Soccer Dad (Disruption Books, 2026) is the story of a soccer-ignorant, sports-ambivalent writer who saw his daughter from the kiddie leagues, through the travel soccer gauntlet and the college athletics recruiting process, to a coveted Division I scholarship. And then realized his work had only begun.
David Murray’s daughter, Scout, loved soccer from toddlerhood. Her drive and skill pulled the Murray family into the world of youth sports—one as culturally obsessive as it is economically exclusive, where each new achievement presents more challenges.
Youth sports can be a fun part of raising a rounded human being. But if it were simple, there wouldn’t be so many youth sports parenting books.
In Soccer Dad, David tries (and sometimes fails) to keep his perspective on the frenzied soccer sidelines; in post-tournament hotel happy hours; on the road to college “showcases;” and during soul-searching calls and late-night text sessions with Scout as she navigates the intense pressure of elite college sports.
On that journey, David contends with some of the essential questions facing parents of talented children: How do you guide without steering, motivate without pushing, and protect without smothering? And how do you learn from other parents—their good instincts, and their bad?
With humor and wisdom and love, Soccer Dad helps soccer parents, sports parents, all parents—to feel less alone, make more conscious choices, and savor our time on the sidelines of our children’s great adventures.
Who is this book for?
This book is not just for a soccer dad or soccer mom. It’s for all sports parents—and really, all parents of talented children who are determined to navigate this emotionally complex journey wisely and enjoyably: for their child, for themselves, for their whole family.
What will you learn?
The current youth sports environment is much more livable when the parents and children involved tell each other the truth, and help each other through. Reading Soccer Dad, you’ll learn that you and your child have plenty of company in your dreams and legitimate doubts, joys and natural anxieties. You’ll learn you have more choices than you may think, and more power to push back.
How will this book help?
The author dares to hope that after you read Soccer Dad (or listen to the Audible version on one of those long travel weekends), your family will come to share this good-humored, hard-earned wisdom and perspective, up and down the sideline—with other parents, with kids, with coaches and even club owners—and maybe a saner, happier youth sports world will result.
About The Author
David Murray is the author of several books, including Soccer Dad and An Effort to Understand: Hearing One Another (and Ourselves) in a Nation Cracked in Half.
David is an award-winning journalist whose writing on sports and other subjects has appeared in The New York Times, the Chicago Tribune, The Atlantic, and many other publications.
He is also editor and publisher of Vital Speeches of the Day, one of the world’s oldest continuously published magazines, and founder and executive director of the Professional Speechwriters Association. David writes daily on communication issues at Writing-Boots.com, and lives with his wife and daughter in Chicago.
