The first word that comes to mind after this read is “honest”. In the memoir Forward by Abby Wambach, there is self-reflection and true honesty. The author is vulnerable with the audience in sharing her story and even admitting when she was in the wrong. The story starts when Wambach first gets into soccer. All her siblings are athletically gifted so she figures she will throw her hat in the ring and try a sport. Being the youngest of seven, Wambach always strived for attention and validation from her parents. Playing soccer gave her both of these things. Not only was she insanely talented at soccer but also, she was so driven to get her parents’ approval, that she fought with aggression that many players did not have at her age. 

As someone who has played soccer for my whole life, this book made me kind of sad. Why would a book about the sport I love make me sad? Because Wambach doesn’t have the love for the game that I thought she would. They do say never meet your heroes. I was very disappointed to learn that she played soccer for survival and approval. In many ways, Wambach resented the game, but the game always helped her. In many parts of the book, soccer was the only thing keeping her somewhat mentally stable. I think this book was written well, however, there were many episodes of depression. Wambach's life was nothing but easy and her ability to constantly self-sabotage only made things harder for herself. Personally, recent COVID times have already brought little joy so to read a book about someone very sad and moody for long periods of time was not really something I enjoyed. Still, the book is a good read, and it shows a side to the mental game in soccer that I have never really considered. Playing just to survive. For me, soccer has always been playing for the love of the game. Hearing a different side deepen my perspective of mental range. All things considered, I would recommend this book even if you don’t play soccer.