A Message Worth Sharing
Updated: Sep 2
How Community Helped Carry Coach Shirley's Soccer Team
When I decided to self-publish Coach Shirley’s Soccer Team: Winning the Game of Life, I wasn’t thinking about television appearances, bookstore events, school visits, community partnerships, or hundreds of books reaching children.
I was thinking about a message I believed was worth sharing.
I had written a children’s book inspired by my sister, Coach Shirley, centered on something we deeply believe: children should learn early to love themselves, believe in themselves, and recognize the greatness already inside of them.
So I published it.
At the time, I had no idea how far Coach Shirley’s Soccer Team could go.
And, I couldn’t have imagined just how important connection would become in carrying the message beyond me.
It Started With the People Closest to Me
My family believed in the book from the beginning.
They shared it with people in their networks, including Dr. Sharon Smith, Vice President of Outreach Partnerships, Educational Outreach and Student Services at Arizona State University—someone our family has known for years.
Dr. Smith purchased the book and connected with its message. She saw possibilities for where it could go.
She made a connection.
That connection opened another door.
One connection led to another.
And another.
And another.
Looking back over the past eight months, I can see that so much of this journey has happened that way.
Yes, I self-published the book. But I certainly didn’t spread its message by myself.
Family, friends, educators, community leaders, organizations, media professionals, readers, and people who simply saw something good in what I was trying to do helped carry it forward.
People Connected with the Message
That may be the greatest lesson this journey has taught me.
People connect with messages they believe in.
Self-love.
Self-belief.
Confidence.
Accountability.
Helping children recognize their own greatness.
Those ideas do not belong only to Coach Shirley. They are things parents want for their children. They are things educators work to reinforce with their students. They are things community organizations want for the children and families they serve.
And when people understood that Coach Shirley’s Soccer Team was not simply a story about soccer, they began to see themselves in the larger message.
That connection to the message opened doors I could never have opened by myself.
It took the book into elementary schools, where I began to see how naturally Shirley’s Laws connected with lessons educators were already reinforcing with their students.
After one Arizona State University Preparatory campus visit, a school leader shared:
“Coach Shirley’s Laws resonate across all facets of life—sports, school, home, and any activities in which they are involved.”
That stayed with me because it was exactly what I hoped children would take from the story.
Soccer may be where the story takes place, but the lessons are meant to go wherever children go.
Our school visits led to invitations to return, conversations about classroom copies, and opportunities to reach even more students.
And while visiting schools, I noticed something else.
The foundation was already being built.
There were affirmations on the walls encouraging children to believe in themselves. Educators were helping students imagine what they could become. When we asked children which of Shirley’s Laws resonated with them, we heard responses such as:
“I will love myself.”
“I will believe in myself.”
“I will listen to my parents and teachers.”
We weren’t carrying these messages alone. We were reinforcing what families, educators, schools, and communities were already pouring into children.
When Connection Becomes Community Impact
I saw that same belief in the message through the Black Philanthropy Initiative.
In August, BPI purchased 150 copies of Coach Shirley’s Soccer Team for its Black Philanthropy Month celebration. The books were distributed in the community.
BPI also partnered with me for the Barnes & Noble storytime and signing. They purchased additional copies to help extend the book’s reach.
Arizona Community Foundation later described the effort as helping children see themselves reflected in stories of “teamwork, resilience and possibility.”
For me, it was about more than seeing books distributed.
It was seeing a community invest in young readers and help carry a message we all believed mattered.
That is what community carrying a message looks like to me.
And those connections continued.
They led to conversations about the book and its message on Arizona PBS’s Arizona Horizon and Your Life Arizona, as well as a place for the book in the Phoenix Public Library collection.
When I published it, I did not know any of that was coming.
I simply knew I had something I believed was worth saying.
This journey has also changed the way I think about what it means to self-publish. Putting the book into the world was my decision, but I never had to build everything alone.
One of the biggest lessons self-publishing has taught me is that you can publish independently without building alone.
More Than I Imagined
My faith is also an important part of how I understand this journey.
I believe God gave me a message to share, and I also believe He has blessed this journey with favor in places I could never have planned for myself.
And so often, that favor has shown up through people.
Through a family member who shared the book.
Through someone who loved the message enough to make a connection.
Through an educator who welcomed me into a school.
Through an organization that believed in the mission.
Through someone who saw the message and thought, More people need to hear this.
There are still so many places I hope this book will go and so many children I hope it will reach.
I don’t know what the next eight months will bring.
But I know what these first eight months have taught me:
Believe in the message you’ve been given.
Be willing to put it into the world.
Value the people who believe in it with you.
Never underestimate what can happen when a message worth sharing meets a community willing to carry it.
I self-published the book.
But community helped carry the message forward.
And for that, I am deeply grateful.
Let’s Keep Connecting
If you are a parent, educator, librarian, school leader, community organization, or supporter who believes in helping children grow in self-love, confidence, and self-belief, I’d love to connect.
The more of us reinforcing that message, the more children we can help recognize the greatness already inside of them.
Always remember, you are the greatest.
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