Black Soccer Players

by Robert Woodard
(Tampa FL)

Writing the Book was the Easy Part

I have been a soccer player, coach and fan since the 1970's when I discovered the game through the Tampa Bay Rowdies and thier battles with Pele and the New York Cosmos. Not unusual until you discover that I am an American born and raised black man with no direct ties to the Caribbean or Africa. For years soccer players and fans always quizzed me on where I was from and how I ended up playing competitive soccer.

After hanging up my boots for good, I decided to write my first book, "Black People Don't Play Soccer? Unlocking American Soccer's Secret Weapon" which was released in early 2009.

This non fiction book is the first analysis of the historical and cultural reasons African-Americans haven't embraced soccer in the same way as the rest of the world.

The book focuses on why soccer struggles to gain a foothold in America's sports culture. Part of the equation is how including the missing element of the best athletes in the black community could lead to transforming the US into a soccer power.

Far from just a book about black athletes this is about our sports culture developed from the 1800th century to the changes wrought by globalization. It also looks at race from the prism of the acceptance of black soccer players in England and the recent spate of racial incidents in Europe.

As a bonus this book compiles stories of soccer players of African descent that made history in America and around the world.

With a potential audience of 18 million soccer players registered soccer players and a host of people interested in black history, the potential is tremendous.

Unfortunately, finding exposure for a book about black soccer players hasn't been easy, competing with tell alls about baseball and steroids.

Much of the difficulty came from using a local publing house with a limited reach to national markets and distribution networks. As a result, there haven't been the interviews on talk radio or discussions based on the book that the subject matter should generate.

Emotionally this was a letdown after the euphoria of actually seeing the book in print. But patience and a startegic re-evaluation of the marketing approach can still produce a winner.

The key is getting the book into the right hands and finding the help needed to promote it to reach its full potential.

My advice to someone in a similar situation is to trust but not that much. A small publisher might have the best of intentions but if your book has the potential to go really big, they may not be up to the task. Trust in your product, never give up and if things don't work out at first, retreat and reassess and go after it until it works.

Visit the black soccer players book.