About the Book

Title: Daddy’s Little Goalie

Author: Robert Strauss

List price: $19.99

Hardcover: 160 pages

Publisher: Andrews McMeel Publishing (April 26, 2011)

Language: English

ISBN: 1449402348

Buy the book at Barnes and Noble, Amazon, Borders, Powell’s or Indie Bound.

Daddy’s Little Goalie has been reviewed by The New Jersey Monthly and was mentioned by the Minneapolis Star-Tribune.

A brief description

The National Federation of High School Associations estimates that approximately 3.1 million girls participate in high school sports. Daddy’s Little Goalie, written by professional sports writer Robert Strauss, is about a new generation of fathers who are nurturing their daughters as girl jocks throughout their years of schooling.

In Daddy’s Little Goalie, Strauss shares an invitingly poignant and humorous collection of anecdotes about the father/daughter sporting dynamic based on his own experiences with his daughters, Ella and Sylvia. Proud dads, been-there moms, and sporting daughters alike will recognize themselves in Strauss’s stories. From the pride inspired by a daughter’s first left-handed layup to the shin-kicking action on the soccer field, Daddy’s Little Goalie is not a primer on how to raise the next Venus or Serena Williams, but about the normal run of girl jockdom and the important role of the father/daughter relationship in sports—and life.

Robert Strauss is the proud father of two daughters who play sports. He has been a staffer at Sports Illustrated and has written extensively for The New York Times. He is an adjunct professor of writing in the English department at the University of Pennsylvania; he also managed to play, just barely, Division III freshman basketball and rugby at Carleton College. He lives with his wife, Susan, and daughters, Ella and Sylvia, in Haddonfield, New Jersey.

Praise for Daddy’s Little Goalie

“There have been a million books published about fathers and sons in the world of sports. But fathers and daughters? It’s as if there is no relationship when it comes to athletics. But Daddy’s Little Goalie finally breaks the mold. It is delightful, a breeze to read and filled with the kind of love that you will have you crying and laughing” – Buzz Bissinger, author of Friday Night Lights and Three Nights in August

“Robert Strauss has written a tender memoir, funny and affecting, reminding us that the women’s sports revolution has given an important opportunity to fathers as well-a way to stay close to their daughters. All they have to do is drive the car pools, keep the schedules, operate the scoreboards, and provide the snacks.” – Michael Sokolove, author of Warrior Girls, Protecting Our Daughters Against the Injury Epidemic in Women’s Sports

“I may be biased, but here’s how I rank them: War and Peace, Anna Karenina, Daddy’s Little Goalie.” –Franz Lidz, author of Unstrung Heroes, Ghosty Men, and Fairway to Hell.

“This is a delightful book about how winning isn’t everything. Robert Strauss’s lively and humorous chronicle of his two daughters’ love for athletic competition-a love that took them and their father to virtually every field, pool, court, and diamond within a hundred miles of the Strauss home in Southern New Jersey-is a delight to read and a welcome reminder of the right way to root for your kids. –David M. Friedman, author of The Immortalists: Charles Lindbergh, Dr. Alexis Carrel, and Their Daring Quest to Live Forever

“This is not just for dads! Any parent who has shared the triumphs and tribulations of a child on the sports field will enjoy the athletic journey of Ella and Sylvia Strauss.” –Jennifer Lin, mom and co-author of Sole Sisters: Stories of Women and Running

“Anybody who has a daughter or son, or is a daughter or son, should read Daddy’s Little Goalie. Robert Strauss tells the bittersweet story of his own girls’ athletic exploits with style, sympathy, and the one thing you need when your kids hit the field-a sense of humor.” –Ben Yagoda, author of Memoir: A History and About Town: The New Yorker and the World It Made

“My kids are still young, but Robert Strauss is exactly the kind of sports dad I aim to be: Supportive, patient, and able to listen, laugh, clap, and steer the minivan at the same time.” – David Kinney, author of The Big One: An Island, An Obsession, and the Furious Pursuit of a Great Fish

“Robert Strauss may have been the worst hockey player at Carleton College, but in Daddy’s Little Goalie he proves he is a world-class father and story-teller. His account of raising Ella and Sylvia, two girls who excel at everything from crew to clarinet, is warm, wise, and wonderful.” – Ray Didinger, member of the National Football Hall of Fame writers wing and author of The Eagles Encyclopedia.

“Robert Strauss writes about his combined passions of fatherhood and sports in a way that is meaningful for any dad who has held his breath while his daughter swung for a home run or attempted a three-pointer. Written with a lot of heart, Daddy’s Little Goalie will ring true for dads who volley from one over-organized and over-supervised event to another, wistful for the innocent days of adult-free pickup games and idle sandlot hours. Through sports, Strauss bonds with his growing girls and finds a way to teach them life lessons that he is discovering himself.”– David Diamond, author of seven books including, with Linus Torvalds, Just for Fun: The story of an Accidental Revolutionary

“Although written from a father-daughter point of view, this fun to read, very humorous, sometimes nostalgic piece of work is a personal, yet in many ways  universal, exploration of how youth sports shapes the lives of modern-day children and becomes sometimes even more significant for parents. Strauss’s book delivers as authentic Americana.” — Steven A. Kauffman, Kauffman Sports Management Group