Book Review: Surviving Soccer by Karen Scholl

If you've ever stood on the sidelines in a hoodie with your coffee in hand, wondering “Is it just me, or is this youth soccer thing a little… much?”—then Karen Scholl’s Surviving Soccer* is the book you didn’t know you needed. We were lucky enough to get our hands on a pre-release copy —and let us tell you, this one delivers. After reading it cover to cover (in between tournament weekends and lost shin guards), we’re officially giving it the Ohio Soccer Moms & Dads Stamp of Approval.

A longtime Central Ohio soccer parent, Scholl has lived through the chaos, politics, group chats, and muddy fields of the local scene—and she’s come out on the other side with her humor fully intact. I had the pleasure of sitting down with Karen a couple of weeks ago and we discovered that our paths have crossed, several times before having players that trained with big name local trainers and we both experienced when entire teams moved clubs, she has legit been in the trenches.

Local coaches and clubs might be sweating the release of this book—not because Scholl names names (she doesn’t!)—but because the stories are so familiar, they hit just a little too close to home. If you think a particular chapter sounds like your kid’s team, your carpool group, or that one team manager... well, that’s on you.

Why it’s a must-read:

• New soccer parents will walk away with a hilarious and shockingly accurate guide to the unspoken rules of the game behind the game.

• Veteran parents will laugh out loud while quietly sobbing because it’s funny... and painfully true.

Whether you're in your first season or your fifteenth, Surviving Soccer* is the playbook for keeping your sanity while navigating the wild world of youth soccer in Ohio.

Grab your copy here on Amazon*(and maybe get an extra for that team mom who needs a laugh).

Because let’s be honest—if we didn’t laugh... we’d cry.

*links in this blog post will take you to Amazon, and we may receive a small commission from purchase made from our links.