Press
Awards
2025 Pacific Northwest Writers Assocation Unpublished Writing Contest Finalist
In 2025, PNWA had more entries than ever before in their unpublished writing contest, and ‘Play On’ was chosen as a finalist. Winners will be announced at their annual conference in September.
2025 Aurora Polaris Creative Nonfiction Finalist
In June 2025, Trio House Press announced the finalists for the Auro Polaris Creative Nonfiction Awards. ‘Play On’ was chosen as a finalist – pre-professional edit. Other finalists included established and multiple award-winning authors, one of whom went on to win the award. This was an encouraging recognition for a first-time author.
Heidi Smith’s Stories on Medium
Writing Play On has been a nearly ten-year process. Along the way, some of the people I interviewed have notably changed careers. These articles serve as snapshots of memorable moments, as coaches, sports executives and commentators geared up for global tournaments now long past.
In 2018, Sarina Weigman was just one year out from coaching the Dutch Women’s National Team to their first European Cup championship. In our wide-ranging conversation, she reflected on the importance of female coaches, why specifics matter in providing feedback, and where she’d like to see the global game in twenty years.
Excerpt:
Sarina Wiegman is Shaping the Future of Dutch Women’s Soccer
Sarina Wiegman began her soccer career as an outlaw. The Dutch Women’s National Team head coach first joined a team along with her twin brother at age six, cropping her hair so no one would suspect she was female. “There was no girls’ soccer at all at that time,” says Wiegman. “I played with the boys’ team, which was actually illegal. Sometimes we had problems from parents, but I really enjoyed it, so I didn’t care.”
Over 40 years later, Wiegman has become a driving force behind the evolution of women’s soccer in Holland and a pioneer as both player and coach. In 2001 she became the first female Dutch player to earn 100 caps and in 2017, she coached Holland to its first UEFA championship. FIFA named her as 2018’s World Coach of the Year and she is currently ranked number one on FIFA’s list of international coaches based on her win/loss record for the past twelve months. She is the third Dutch woman to earn a UEFA Pro coaching license and the first to serve as assistant manager for a men’s professional team.
Former U.S. Women’s National Team player Aly Wagner was preparing to cover the 2019 Women’s World Cup when we spoke. By then, she was renowned as an excellent technical analyst of the women’s game, breaking the mold of commentators who focused primarily on players’ personalities and backgrounds. She was also the first female reporter to cover a men’s international game. In our conversation, she shared her perspectives on what makes good commentary and how her experience as a player informs her work.
Excerpt:
Aly Wagner Brings Technical Analysis to Women’s World Cup Coverage
Aly Wagner has heard the critiques. When, in the course of calling a televised women’s soccer game, she points out that a defensive player is not marking the man in the box, inevitably a viewer will object, “But they’re not men.”
As a two-time Olympic gold medalist and two-time World Cup bronze medalist with the U.S. Women’s National Team, Wagner is well aware of that fact — and she also knows how female soccer players actually talk during games. “It’s not sexist, it’s just quick. It’s functional,” she says.
Former USWNT head coach Jill Ellis hadn’t won her second World Cup championship yet when we spoke in 2018. For her achievements, she was twice recognized as FIFA Women’s Coach of the Year, both in 2015 and 2019. She shared stories of the difference between football in the UK and the United States during her formative years, what it takes to be an elite athlete and her hopes for the future of the women’s game.
Excerpt:
Jill Ellis never thought of herself as a role model. Through years of coaching university soccer teams to Pac Ten Conference titles and Big Ten Tournament berths, it didn’t occur to her that she was inspiring anyone other than players until she became the U.S. Women’s National Team’s head coach.
“I started having younger coaches come up and tell me, ‘It’s been great to see a female coach reach the national team level. I just want to do what you’re doing,’” says Ellis. “Now I’m very much an advocate. I see how important it is for people who aspire to a career in coaching to have someone who represents what they want to do professionally.”
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Katie Schnack | katie.schnack@smithpublicity.com | 856-489-8654 x1012
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