You can use your St. Louis County Library card to borrow titles from these partner libraries:
1 of 1 copy available
“Rogers made history.” —Sports Illustrated
Robbie Rogers knows better than most that keeping secrets can crush you. But for much of his life Robbie lived in paralyzing fear that sharing his big secret would cost him the love of his family and his career as a professional soccer player. So he never told anyone what was destroying his soul, both on and off the field.
While the world around Robbie was changing with breathtaking speed, he knew that for a gay man playing a professional team sport it might as well be 1958. He could be a professional soccer player. Or he could be an out gay man. He couldn’t do both.
Then at the age of twenty-five and after nearly stepping away from a brilliant career—one that included an NCAA Championship, winning the MLS Cup, and competing in the Olympics—he chose to tell the truth. But instead of facing the rejection he feared, he was embraced—by his family, by his teammates, and his fans.
In Coming Out to Play, Robbie takes readers on his incredible journey from terrified teenager to a trailblazing out and proud professional soccer player for the L.A. Galaxy, who has embraced his new identity as a role model and champion for those still struggling with the secrets that keep them from living their dreams.
-
Creators
-
Publisher
-
Release date
November 25, 2014 -
Formats
-
Kindle Book
-
OverDrive Read
- ISBN: 9780698168053
-
EPUB ebook
- ISBN: 9780698168053
- File size: 10508 KB
-
-
Languages
- English
-
Reviews
-
October 15, 2014
In this empowering autobiography, professional soccer player Rogers describes his experiences as the first openly gay player on a major league soccer team, the L.A. Galaxy. Midfielder Rogers was a soccer phenomenon from a young age, and his quickness repeatedly made him one of the best players on the field. However, the burden of hiding his sexual orientation led to bouts of depression, especially during his first international move to Holland to play for SC Heerenveen in 2006. Having been raised in a devout Catholic environment, Rogers agonized that his family would not accept his sexuality. Further, he was not convinced that he could be both a professional soccer player and an openly gay man. He carefully explains the nervousness he experienced before writing the blog post that would change his life forever--the one explaining his true identity--and how he never dreamt how positive the response would be. VERDICT Rogers's debut is great inspiration for people of all ages struggling with shame and grappling with identity issues with regard to sexuality or otherwise. Those who enjoy memoir and stories of people who overcome difficulty will embrace this account.--Valerie Hamra, New York, NY
Copyright 2014 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
-
September 1, 2014
In May 2013, just three months after coming out, soccer pro Rogers made history as the first openly gay man to play in a top U.S. sports league. That it even happened seems almost accidental: the deeply closeted Rogers never set out to be an activist and, in fact, at first believed that coming out would mean the end of his playing career. What strikes the reader here is Rogers' ordinarinessa gifted athlete, obviously, but otherwise a young man like so many others. And that, of course, is at the heart of most coming-out stories, as readers of all orientations recognize that they really are just like us. For reading interest, one wishes that Rogers might have been a little wilder at heart, but, as he makes clear, much of his flat or straight affect developed as a defense mechanism to hide his true self from his family and teammates, whose rejection he deeply feared. Capably told and cowritten, this is a good book, not a great one, but it's an undeniably important story.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)
-