Samantha Gordon - Sweet Feet: Samantha Gordon’s Winning Season

Copyright 2013 by Ari D. Bruening

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First published in the United States of America in October 2013
by Walker Books for Young Readers, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing, Inc.
E-book edition published in October 2013
www.bloomsbury.com

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Gordon, Samantha.
Sweet feet : Samantha Gordons winning season / by Samantha Gordon with Ari Bruening.
pages cm.
Summary: Ten-year-old Samantha Sweet Feet Gordon isnt just a girl who plays football.
Shes also the best player in a league full of boys and has become an online sensation.
1. Gordon, Samantha, 2003 Juvenile literature. 2. Women football playersUnited StatesBiographyJuvenile literature. 3. Child celebritiesUnited StatesBiographyJuvenile literature. I. Bruening, Ari. II. Title.
GV939.G665A3 2013 796.332092dc23 [B] 2013019855

ISBN: 978-0-8027-3655-0 (e-book)

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When I first heard about Sam Gordons highlight video, like many others who have seen her running for touchdown after touchdown, getting plowed over by boysand popping right back up again!I was amazed. You cant help but enjoy seeing that ponytail dangling out the back of her helmet as she eludes would-be tacklers and sprints into the end zone.

I was immediately struck by two thoughts. First: Sam was sending a great message that girls are capable of competing with boys in traditionally male sports. Second: That even against all odds and despite many peoples opinions that she should not be playing football at all, Sam was doing what she loved and what would allow her to grow into the person she wanted to be.

I soon learned that Sam not only played soccer, as well as football, but that Alex Morgan and I were two of her favorite soccer players. I knew I had to meet this girl. So I invited Sam and her family to a US Womens National Team game in Arizona.

As soon as my teammates and I met Sam, we could tell that her confidence and magnetic personality were beyond her young years. In front of twenty women shes watched play soccer on television, Sam wasnt nervous at allquite the opposite. She was outgoing and comfortable talking to everyone, to the point that a few of us were slightly taken aback by how composed and mature she was. Equally impressive was how she was handling her sudden celebrity. Seeing Sam play football and meeting her at our training session reminded me that when you approach a situation with confidence, whether on the field or in life, you are at your purest and best.

The women on the US team are in the position of being role models for young people, so we understand how important it is to connect with fans. Sam has that naturally. It was incredibly special for me to meet a talented and strong female who is in a small way reshaping what it means to be an athlete. Sometimes it takes a special individual doing something extraordinary for society to really take notice.

Sam is fearless, and she doesnt even realize how special she is, because shes just doing what comes naturally to her. Its as if no one ever told Sam that girls usually dont play football, and when she did, the world marveled at her feats. Thats a wonderful thing. Just over forty years after the passing of Title IX, which prohibits gender discrimination in athletics, this is our reality: Sam Gordon didnt see any reason why she couldnt play the sport she loved.

The example Sam sets goes far beyond the field of play. She is funny, adorable, and always smiling, but also humble, and a mentally tough and tremendously competitive winner. Everyoneathlete or not, male or femalecan learn from her approach to life. No matter what the challenge, Sam meets it head-on for the right reason: because its just plain fun.

Abby Wambach
US Womens National Soccer Team

I was scared. It was my first football game, and my coach had decided to make me the teams starting quarterback. The first play Coach Staib called was for me to run with the ball. I took a deep breath. I knew I could do this. I had been practicing for weeks. So far no other player could catch me in practice. But this wasnt a drill, and I didnt know what would happen in a real game. My heart was pounding as I ran onto the field and lined up. I could hear the crowd yelling on the sidelines, but I had no idea what they were saying, because I was focused only on the ball that was about to be hiked to me. What if I didnt catch it? What if a tackler knocked it out of my hands? I couldnt let my team down. As I lifted my hands in front of my face to catch the ball, I couldnt keep them from shaking.

I signaled to my teammate, and he hiked the ball back to me. I made sure I kept my eyes on the ball until it was in my hands before I started to run. I took off to the right, where I knew my teammates would be blocking for me. A player from the other team was waiting there to tackle me. I stopped, faked left, and cut right, and his arms caught nothing but air. My blockers kept the other defenders away from me, and I broke through the first line of the defense. Then I heard my coach yelling, Get to the outside! Get to the outside! So I ran to the edge of the field as fast as I could.

A tackler was sprinting toward the sideline where I was headed, trying to cut me off. I told my legs to go even faster, and somehow they listened. With an extra burst of speed, I flew past the boy before he could get to me. Now I was ahead of everybody in the open field, with the defenders chasing me. My body was telling me it couldnt go any farther, but I ignored it and kept running. Nobody caught me before I crossed the goal line. Thats right: I ran the entire length of the field for a touchdown the very first time I got the ball! I wanted to jump up and down and celebrate, but I knew that wasnt allowed, so I just gave the ball to the referee and walked back to my team.

Including this first one, I scored twenty-five touchdowns in one season!

I didnt need to jump and scream anyway, because other people were doing it for me. One of the assistant coaches had been running down the sideline, following me and hopping up and down. My teammates swarmed around me, yelling and high-fiving me left and right. It was a hot August day, and I was sweaty and tired, but I was so happy that I didnt mind. All the hard work wed put in every day in practice was totally worth it!