One Goal: A Coach, a Team, and the Game That Brought a Divided Town Together

by Amy Bass

Overview

In the tradition of Friday Night Lights and Outcasts United, One Goal tells the inspiring story of the soccer team in a town bristling with racial tension that united Somali refugees and multi-generation Mainers in their quest for state — and ultimately national — glory.

When thousands of Somali refugees resettled in Lewiston, Maine, a struggling, overwhelmingly white town, longtime residents grew uneasy. Then the mayor wrote a letter asking Somalis to stop coming, which became a national story. While scandal threatened to subsume the town, its high school's soccer coach integrated Somali kids onto his team, and their passion began to heal old wounds. Taking readers behind the tumult of this controversial team — and onto the pitch where the teammates vied to become state champions and achieved a vital sense of understanding — One Goal is a timely story about overcoming the prejudices that divide us.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780316396547
Publisher:	Hachette Books
Publication date:	02/27/2018
Pages:	328
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.10(h) x 1.20(d)

About the Author

A professor of history in New York, Amy Bass lived in Lewiston, Maine for four years as a student at Bates College. Her writing has appeared in Slate, Salon, and CNN Opinion, and her work for NBC's Olympics coverage earned her an Emmy in 2012 for Outstanding Live Event Turnaround. One Goal is her fourth book.

Table of Contents

Introduction xi

Chapter 1 Why Not Us? 1

Chapter 2 We Have to Go Back 20

Chapter 3 Welcome to Vacationland 33

Chapter 4 Many and One 50

Chapter 5 I Still Say Somalia 68

Chapter 6 Grind Mode 86

Chapter 7 I Live My Thank-You 102

Chapter 8 1-2-3 Pamoja Ndugu 111

Chapter 9 Lewiston Pure 133

Chapter 10 Saints, Martyrs, and Summer Soccer 150

Chapter 11 Many Nations, One Team 166

Chapter 12 Inshallah, We Got This 181

Chapter 13 Our House 201

Chapter 14 Straight Red 217

Chapter 15 Do Not Retaliate 236

Chapter 16 Everyone Bleeds Blue 247

Chapter 17 Make It a Good One 261

Epilogue: The Devils That You Know 285

Lewiston High School Blue Devils Soccer State Champions 2015 295

Postscript: Soccer Is Life 297

Acknowledgments 301

Reading Group Guide 305

Editorial Reviews

11/27/2017
One of the whitest states in the U.S. also boasts one of the country’s most ethnically diverse high school soccer programs, explains Bass (Those About Him Remained Silent) in this relevant and rewarding narrative. Bass followed the Lewiston High School Blue Devils and the team’s tireless coach, Mike McGraw, during its 2015 pursuit of a state title. In the early 2000s, Lewiston, Maine, emerged as a popular destination for Somali refugee families due to the city’s low crime rate, cheap housing, and solid schools. The Somalis had an impact on life in Lewiston (sambusa, a savory Somali puff pastry, is served by snack bars at games alongside hot dogs), but, as Bass reports, the wider community was slow to accept the Somali population. Bass immersed herself in the town’s culture and got to know players and families both black and white—as well as the prejudiced Lewiston residents who told Somali families to “go back to Africa.” McGraw emerges as the book’s true hero, a man able to put aside his own preconceptions about Muslims for the good of his players. He, along with the Lewiston High School boys’ soccer team, eventually bridged a divided community on their way to winning the finals. Bass’s effective portrayal of Lewiston as a microcosm of America’s changing culture should be required reading for coaches, teachers, and those working with diverse populations. (Feb.)

Publishers Weekly

"The perfect parable for our time."
—Jane Leavy, The Wall Street Journal

"A magnificent and significant book about soccer in the United States...at once a stark look at the lives of the Somali refugees and a serious study of why soccer matters as a link between disparate cultures and peoples....Some of the vignettes of life for these refugees are as unforgettable as any heart-stopping game."—The Globe & Mail

"Amy Bass tells a story that encompasses many of the things people love about sports, but also epitomizes many of the reasons sports matter."—Bob Costas

"In this noisy era of glib hot-takes and childish finger-pointing, it's too easy to forget that the national character—hardworking, immigrant-fueled, optimistic—was built from the bottom up. Let Amy Bass remind you. Let her take you to our frosty upper righthand corner, to Lewiston, Maine, where quiet heroes like Mike McGraw, Abdi H. and the magical Blue Devils show again just how it's done. This is not just a great story, deftly reported and unflinchingly told. It's not just a story of one obscure high school season. It's the American story, just when you feared that it might be fading fast, renewed."—S.L. Price, Sports Illustrated Senior Writer and author of PlayingThrough The Whistle: Steel, Football and an American Town

"A lively, informative, and entertaining...underdog story that skillfully blends elements of human compassion, passion for a sport, determination, and endurance with overtones of societal pressure and racism. It's an exhilarating narrative that shows how perseverance and the ability to disregard the narrow-mindedness of xenophobia can lead to victory....An edifying and adrenaline-charged tale."
—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

"At a time when America seems consumed by divisiveness and hate, along comes One Goal, a beautiful and important reminder that humanity's strength is its togetherness. Yes, on the surface this is a soccer book. But Amy Bass' work is so much more. It's about overcoming odds, about embracing differences, about the triumph of will and spirit. A true gem of a book."—Jeff Pearlman, New York Times bestselling author of The Bad Guys Won and Gunslinger

"A story that is not only relevant to our national discourse, but essential. This is a book about the big 'isms,' but it is most of all a book about human beings, compellingly and movingly rendered."
—Jeremy Schaap, New York Times bestselling author of Cinderella Man

"A touching work showing how different groups can come together through sports"—Library Journal, Best Books of the Year

"In this gripping account of Lewiston's journey to its first-ever high-school soccer state championship, history professor Bass vividly tells the stories of the Somalis and Lewiston, exploring the resistance and racism the refugees faced in town and on the field....a heartening example of sport's ability to bring people together...Engrossing and informative."
—Booklist

"One Goal has made me feel optimistic about the country I live in. The vibrant, colorful and courageous characters will make you smile. The coach of the Blue Devils, Mike McGraw, is the kind of man you wish your own kids could learn from- and he teaches a lot more than soccer. One Goal is about so much more than sports. It illustrates how powerful and transcendent teamwork and community can be."—Mary Carillo, analyst, NBC Sports

"Amy Bass's book transcends sports and provides encouragement in discouraging times."
—Bill Littlefield, Boston Globe, Best Books of the Year

"Wondrous....The players' humble triumphs remind us that no win is too small....One Goal illustrates how sport changed the history of a small town in Maine and connected so many people. It's a relevant tale in today's political climate, where fear and bigotry can be conquered by inclusion, understanding, and the beautiful game."—ShireenAhmed, co-host of the Burn It All Down podcast

"[A] relevant and rewarding narrative... Bass's effective portrayal of Lewiston as a microcosm of America's changing culture should be required reading."—Publishers Weekly

"We can use more books that make us feel good about being Americans. This one does that."—Lee Miller, The Boston Globe

"Bass captures the essence of this unlikely band of brothers perfectly. This isn't a story about a soccer team....More than anything, this is a story of hope. The hope that brought thousands of Africans to a remote corner of the America in search of a better life. The hope that made a city finally open its arms to the children of those immigrants. The hope that our future still might be better than our past."—Tom Caron, anchor, New England Sports Network

"One Goal is Friday Night Lights for the twenty-first century."—Brian Phillips, author of Impossible Owls

"The inspirational story of how Somali refugees and native-born white kids in Lewiston, Maine, banded together to win a state championship, helping bridge racial and cultural divides...Bass broadens the story to show how it fits into the story of immigration, racism, Islamaphobia and economic decline in rust belt American towns."—The Hollywood Reporter

From the Publisher

★ 2017-11-12
United by a common dream, high school soccer players overcome racism in a town in Maine.Lewiston was once a nearly all-white mill town on the verge of economic collapse. Then hundreds of Somali refugees poured into the city, creating new growth in the community. Despite racial tensions, the Somalians forged ahead, with their youth leading the way on and off the soccer field. With the help of the high school soccer coach and his assistants, the team led the school to its first state championship in 2015. Bass (History/Coll. of New Rochelle) delivers a lively, informative, and entertaining account of the years leading up to the game, and she includes in-depth coverage of the players and their respective refugee stories, the coach and his assistants, and the overall state of racism in Maine and across the U.S. Minute-by-minute descriptions of the games build tension as the team steadily progresses from a devastating defeat to their ultimate victory. The back stories of the Somalian refugees are often heart-rending and brutal, but they also demonstrate an awe-inspiring resilience. The concern of the people of Lewiston who helped integrate the refugees into the community offers hope and guidance to those who also face a steady influx of immigrants. This is a multitiered underdog story that skillfully blends elements of human compassion, passion for a sport, determination, and endurance with overtones of societal pressure and racism. It's an exhilarating narrative that shows how perseverance and the ability to disregard the narrow-mindedness of xenophobia can lead to victory. "The team's success embodies a negotiation between an immigrant community and its chosen home," writes the author, "an often difficult conversation about language, religion, culture, education, and family."An edifying and adrenaline-charged tale of how immigrant soccer players were able to translate "tight-knit family and community connection to success on the field."

Kirkus Reviews

01/01/2018
On the surface, this debut by Bass (history, Coll. of New Rochelle, NY) seems to be a soccer story, chronicling a high school soccer team in Lewistown, ME, as they try to win the state championship. But the community has a larger story to tell, and Bass does this masterfully. During the course of a decade, beginning in 2001, Lewistown had more than 7,000 Somali refugees as residents. Bass provides necessary context to the history of Lewistown and documents the pushback that some citizens of the town had to new members of the community. Where the book shines is in the author's ability to tell the story of a number of the soccer players, their families, and the obstacles they had to go through to find a home in Maine. Bass uses the game of soccer to relate the changing Lewistown community, where several Somali refugees have since settled. The majority of the soccer team are members of the Somali community, and they not only helped create a new Lewistown but also a greater understanding between different cultures. VERDICT A touching account that is highly recommended for all readers.—Pamela Calfo, Baldwin Borough P.L., PA

Library Journal