Girls FC: What's Ukrainian for Football?

"And I must point out I’m not just picking this because I wanted to put something in here for girls who like football! These books are really good. Having said that, a lot of girls are playing football and are huge fans of football, and probably the majority of literature out there about football isn’t representative of women’s sport. I think there is a huge gap there, and it needs to be addressed. I would have loved this when I was a kid – a whole series about one team! The book I’ve chosen out of the series is What’s Ukrainian For Football? , and again, first and foremost, it’s a really good story. It draws on so many different things – friendship, identity, history – as well as football. Basically, it’s about a Ukrainian girl, Nika, who’s moved to the UK and is playing for an under 11s team. Joining the team is part of the way that she adjusts to living in a new country, but she still feels different, and she’s very aware of that. When her team are invited to go and play in a celebration of the World Cup, this sense of difference is brought home hugely. Her team are allotted Ukraine and many of them are really disappointed. They wanted to be England. Nika is very upset by their reaction. Nika’s uncle tells her the famous “Death Match” story. A true story. Under Nazi occupation a Ukrainian team plays against a Nazi team. The Nazis warn them that they have to lose the match, but the Ukrainian team decides to try and win regardless of the price they eventually have to pay. Nika is inspired by the heroism of those players and uses the story to rally her team. It works really well. It’s very subtly done and beautifully written."