This children’s book is a modern day love story between a mother, daughter and the sport that keeps bringing them together.
Vanessa was four years old when she first started playing soccer. It was her dad, Peter, who signed her up but it was her mom, Cindy, who fell in love with everything that soccer brought to their lives, including the idea for the book.
The story of the pink and purple soccer ball has been floating around inside of Cindy’s head for years when Vanessa finally gently pushed her to make it come to life.
Together they decided to co-write the book, bonding over this creative endeavor by going down memory lane and remembering the amazing moments that soccer brought into their lives.
Vanessa and her pink and purple soccer ball was inspired by Vanessa Mueggler’s real life soccer journey, where she started off playing (strong word, more like chasing butterflies) for fun, moving up from intercity to elite level.
Vanessa continued on her journey playing for the provincial team and then training for Team Canada. Eventually Vanessa left for University in the USA where she received a full-scholarship to play soccer and study at Middle Tennessee State University.
It was the infamous pink and purple soccer ball that she brought everywhere, that kick started her journey and love for soccer.
Cindy Smith was the ultimate soccer mom; always cheering on her daughter as she moved up the ranks, showing up at every practice, game and tournament. Her support and commitment is the reason Vanessa was able to thrive playing soccer.
Writing the book together brought the two together, reminiscing about the different moments throughout Vanessa’s soccer career and being able to view them from both a child’s perspective and parent’s. From winning championships to penalty kick shootouts, from playing soccer against the number one team in the USA to making history to go to the NCAA tournament, Cindy was always there for her daughter, even when she had to take three airplanes to Kentucky to make it for the championship semi-final game!
Stories inspire us to dream bigger and get us to believe that we can be the characters in the book.
Read this book to your children to inspire them to become skilled soccer players while having fun and creating life long friendships, because that is really what the beautiful game is all about!
Kickin’ Back
Throughout the creation of this book it has inspired Cindy and Vanessa to dream bigger and use the book as a stepping stone to make an impact in other’s lives.
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