We All Wore Blue

We All Wore Blue: The Inspiring True Story of a Youth Soccer Team's Journey from Underdogs to Champions. By Emerson Robbins Winner of the 2021 Readers Favorite Books Contest & 2021 Indie Reader Discovery Awards Winner Our story begins with a young recreational team, the veritable "Bad News Bears" of soccer. This hapless team of nine-year-olds hadn't won a single game for three straight years until a new coach to the area is asked to take over. One day, the new coach spots a young African boy sitting in the park jealously watching the boys his same age practice. The coach kindly invites the boy over, discovering that the boy, Jamal has only recently come to the US, having spent much of his childhood in a Kenya refugee camp. Jamal, a decent player, but clearly no super-star, is soon invited to join the team. The boy's younger brother, Yaqub also joins the team a few practices later. The two brothers, having great fun on their new team, begin talking up their experience to friends in their ESL class. Soon, a boy from Nepal joins the team, then a boy from Gambia, from Fiji, from China, Holland and more… Over the next seasons, the team is progressively transformed from its genesis as a typical white suburban team to having boys from a myriad of different countries, races and religions. With the training, support, encouragement, plus some tough love from their coach, the team continues to metamorphose from being possibly the worst team in the State to eventually becoming two-time State Champions. However, the real story is how these boys and their families unite and embrace one another in spite of their differences. A truly inspirational story for our country and world that any fan of the "beautiful game" or just those who enjoy reading inspirational stories are sure to love.

We All Wore Blue: The Inspiring True Story of a Youth Soccer Team's Journey from Underdogs to Champions. By Emerson Robbins Winner of the 2021 Readers Favorite Books Contest & 2021 Indie Reader Discovery Awards Winner Our story begins with a young recreational team, the veritable "Bad News Bears" of soccer. This hapless team of nine-year-olds hadn't won a single game for three straight years until a new coach to the area is asked to take over. One day, the new coach spots a young African boy sitting in the park jealously watching the boys his same age practice. The coach kindly invites the boy over, discovering that the boy, Jamal has only recently come to the US, having spent much of his childhood in a Kenya refugee camp. Jamal, a decent player, but clearly no super-star, is soon invited to join the team. The boy's younger brother, Yaqub also joins the team a few practices later. The two brothers, having great fun on their new team, begin talking up their experience to friends in their ESL class. Soon, a boy from Nepal joins the team, then a boy from Gambia, from Fiji, from China, Holland and more… Over the next seasons, the team is progressively transformed from its genesis as a typical white suburban team to having boys from a myriad of different countries, races and religions. With the training, support, encouragement, plus some tough love from their coach, the team continues to metamorphose from being possibly the worst team in the State to eventually becoming two-time State Champions. However, the real story is how these boys and their families unite and embrace one another in spite of their differences. A truly inspirational story for our country and world that any fan of the "beautiful game" or just those who enjoy reading inspirational stories are sure to love.

Emerson "Skip" Robbins coached youth soccer for over thirty-five years, named Coach of the Year for the City of Seattle in 2007, Coach of the Year for the State of Washington in 2008, COY for the Western United States as well as runner-up for National Coach of the Year in 2009. His FC Shoreline International teams won numerous league titles, countless tournaments and two State Championships. Emerson graduated from Cal Poly University, named to the Phi Alpha Theta National Honor Society in American History. After college, he went on to cofound national engagement ring chain, Robbins Bros., and later founded EE Robbins, The Engagement Ring Store and Emerald City Marketing. After coaching the FC International team and retiring from business, Skip and the love of his life, wife Sherri, moved to the beach on Whidbey Island where he coached the local high school boys' soccer team for many years. He continues to root for his home-town Seattle Seahawks and Sounders.