The autobiography, A Canadaian Soccer Story, co-written by Bob Lenarduzzi and Jim Taylor, was a vague and rushed book telling the story of a 14-year-old child who left home and started over, pursuing his soccer dreams as he wished. Lenarduzzi, a soccer role model and Canadian sports icon who has been around the soccer world longer than you or I. He speaks to the audience in such an informal way, letting the readers understand who he is and how he wants his story to be told. The book had moments where the information lacked details and times when there was just a little too much information. The order which the author told his story was not chronological. He went from the opening chapter when Bob was reflecting on his time with the whitecaps and talk about his franchise and looking for a partner, to 14-year-old Bob asking his parents to leave his home town to go play soccer in England on his own, not taking no as an answer, and then fast forwarding to coaching his old team. These life events were short and not so to the point. The memories he told were vague and kind of felt like it was a “had to be there” moment. Pictures were presented throughout the book helping us as readers understand the importance that soccer had in his life and where he is now. The story seems rushed and even a fan of the sport wouldn’t learn much. Who did learn lots, was Bob Lenarduzzi, he moved to England as a young boy to play professional soccer and to this day does not regret what he had done. With his ups and downs, throwing it all away for the next chapter and his poor writing skills this book could be the worst structured story of all time, but it still doesn’t take away from the fact that he has his whole life to share with us, from where he was, to where he ended up. This is a look into some of his most memorable years and most remarkable moments from Canadian soccer history.
Lenarduzzi was given a chance to play professionally in England, but it wasn’t long until problems arose from multiple fans. Even when Bob was at his best, the fans of other teams and even their own team, would yell out negative comments from within the crowd. “Go back to Canada and play ice hockey, the way you’re supposed to”. (Lenarduzzi & Taylor, 36). Others were being ageist around him, saying that his legs were way too old for this sport. These are the types of obstacles that he knew he was going to face and overcome when he moved out of his own town. Bob is an excelling player, coach, director, manager and has been involved with soccer for decades. According to Benjamin Massey (2012), he states that most of Lenarduzzi’s stories, lack depth. When someone is writing in their first person, it is often found to forget a few things here and there as they are writing their stories and their memories. Their memories aren’t exactly written down, so they have to try to remember the whole event in order to try and make us feel as if we were there. Most of the passages in Lenarduzzi’s book did lack research and a second edit as scores of previous soccer matches were not accurate and the good juicy stories, that we as an audience would like to hear, as in the changing room gossip, were mentioned in a sentence or two. Many conflicts in this book include us trying to read between the lines. He refers to different leagues and associations multiple times through the book without reminding the readers what the acronym actually stands for. “With one signing, the cosmos had given the struggling NASL instant credibility.” (Lenarduzzi & Taylor, 55). It is understandable that with all of his knowledge and background of the sport, he does not think of what other readers are actually reading. As Bobs first, and only, published novel, he may have been too excited to explain what he was talking about and just brushed over some key elements of his story. Most of us would not know what the “NASL” stands for. He mentions all of the leagues and associations in the very beginning of the book but never restates them as a reminder in future chapters.
The number of achievements this incredible man has experienced, has shown just what kind of guy he is and how much he loves soccer. He took the men’s Canadian team to the world cup for the last time in 1985, turned around the women’s league, because he put so much work into this program. “If we stand still, were doomed.” (Lenarduzzi & Taylor, 199). The Whitecaps have moved up exponentially while he was part of the team. Lenarduzzi helps to create an image in our minds explaining the difference of fans the team would have sitting in the stadium to the final game. We can take from this that they have gotten better and better through the years and more people are hearing about their success. “Crowd estimates varied but most figured about 100,000 lines the streets and you couldn’t have crammed another fan into Robinson square, where it concluded, without a shoehorn.” (Lenarduzzi & Taylor, 109).
I guess you could say this is the best autobiography he has written, but it is his only one. His style while sharing his stories are somewhat all over the place. He goes from being serious, to crazy in a matter of minutes because of his rush in excitement writing his greatest memories. He uses these memories as primary sources because he is the only one who has experienced those specific moments at those specific times. Why did Lenarduzzi decide to co-write this book with Jim Taylor? He says it in the opening sentence. “Maybe because I will talk soccer with anyone, anywhere. Always have, always will, partially to promote the sport, partially because when two soccer fans get together the topic kicks in almost instantly. In the process, old memories Bob to the surface: the fun times, the sad times, the laughter, the madcap, unbelievable North American Soccer League (NASL) days when the original Vancouver Whitecaps took the city by storm and by the heart.” (Lenarduzzi & Taylor, 9). He knows that even the casual fan would know about some great achievements in Canadian soccer history and thought to share every good and bad thing he has stored up in his memory to all the soccer fans or Canadian fans. You do not need to be a fan of Bob or Jim, or a fan of the game but you can definitely feel something in some of his passages he has written.
Someone’s memories should never be compared to others, especially in the sports world full of athletes and teams who helped them get to where they have ended up. This book, however, is an autobiography that takes a while to read because of the lack of enthusiasm he has put into it. Other autobiographies have been popularly known by many athletes and sports fans. Even if you are not a fan of the particular sport, everyone has heard of the name Jackie Robinson at least once in their lives. He was an outstanding man who broke the color barrier in the sports world, especially in his sport, baseball. I would like to think, that his autobiography would be a better read than this one of Bob Lenarduzzis.
As a Canadian, former Timbits soccer player and a multisport athlete and reader, I would not personally recommend this autobiography to anyone who did not express a valid interest in Canadian soccer or soccer in general. Even though Lenarduzzi has performed some amazing achievements, the fact that the story was just too under edited and rushed, I am not sure what group of people I would recommend this too. In the synopsis, before reading the book, it said that it was about introducing a young, 14-year-old boy into the England soccer world who was sharing his journey with us. It did just that, but as readers, I thought it would give us some more of his early year stories and setbacks. It is a shame that the go-getter soccer idol hasn’t grabbed our attention to learn about the Canadian history of the sport in more depth.
References
Lenarduzzi, B., & Taylor, J. (2011). Bob Lenarduzzi: a Canadian soccer story. Madeira Park, B.C.: Harbour Pub.
Massey, B. (2012, January 13). Book Review: Bob Lenarduzzi: A Canadian Soccer Story by Bob Lenarduzzi and Jim Taylor. Retrieved March 07, 2018, from https://www.eightysixforever.com/2012/1/13/2700752/book-review-bob-lenarduzzi-a-canadian-soccer-story-by-bob-lenarduzzi