The Keeper: Soccer, Me, and the Law That Changed Women's Lives

by Kelcey Parker Ervick

From the New York Times Book Review,

"[R]eaders will certainly want to linger on the beautiful depictions of birds, people and scenes from her life. She weaves in historical context in graceful and necessary ways."

A beautifully illustrated coming-of-age graphic memoir chronicling how sports shaped one young girl’s life and changed women’s history forever.

Growing up playing on a top national soccer team in the 1980s, Kelcey Ervick and her teammates didn’t understand the change they represented. Title IX was enacted in 1972 with little fanfare, but to seismic effect; between then and now, girls’ participation in organized sports has exploded more than 1,000 percent. Braiding together personal narrative, pop culture, literature, and history, Ervick tells the story of how her adolescence was shaped by this boom. Ervick also explores her role as a goalkeeper—a position marked by outsider status and observation—and reveals it has drawn some of the most famed writers of our time. With wit and poignant storytelling, The Keeper brings to life forgotten figures who understood the importance of athletics to help women step into their confidence and power—and push for equality. Full of 1980s nostalgia and heart, The Keeper is a celebration of how far we have come and a reminder of how far we have to go.

Genres: Memoir, Nonfiction, Graphic Novels, Sports, History, Comics, Biography

336 pages, Paperback

First published October 4, 2022

About the author

Kelcey Ervick is a writer who started drawing. Growing up, she was a goalkeeper in the early years of Title IX. Today she is the author and illustrator of the forthcoming graphic memoir, THE KEEPER (Avery Books/Penguin, Sept. 2022). She lives on the banks of the St. Joseph River and is a professor of English and creative writing at Indiana University South Bend.

Reviews

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

An outstanding book. Beautifully drawn, wisely written, entertaining and important. A great story for readers of all ages!

[Rod Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kelcey Ervick provides a nice autobiography about playing soccer as a girl in the 1980s and on a college team in the 1990s. She fills out her own memories with a brief look at the women who started playing soccer a hundred years earlier and an outline sketch of how Title IX came about and changed women's athletics. As writers are wont to do, she also spends a lot of time on her personal journey from athlete to author, latching onto former soccer players Vladimir Nabokov and Albert Camus for their insights.

The book covers a lot of ground, but rarely pauses to really dig in, skimming through nostalgic moments and "didja know" facts with nearly equal weight.

This is one of those graphic memoirs that is mostly handwritten blocks of text chunked around one or three illustrations per page. Still, it read quickly and I never got bogged down even when it meandered around into its many digressions and side jaunts.

[Kate · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow! I feel like this was a book about me and my experiences playing softball throughout my childhood, teen years, and having to make difficult decisions, being a woman, an athlete, A mother, A teacher, the history, and the fight for women's rights and equality.

[Liz Mc2 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Did you know Nabokov was a goalkeeper at Cambridge? Me neither, until I read Ervick’s wide-ranging graphic memoir. While the center of the story is her time playing in goal—from childhood in the 80s through university—Ervick connects that story to the birth of women’s football in Britain, the impact of Title IX, and the ongoing struggle for equity in sports. For many years, Ervick felt she had to leave sports behind to become an artist, but by the end of the book she sees the connection between these two selves: the writer is also a “keeper” of stories and memories, the role she has taken on in this book. The goalkeeper is part of a team, but spends a lot of time alone, gaining a perspective on the game from her station that no other player has. Perhaps that, too, contributes to Ervick’s growth as an artist. Maybe I wouldn’t have loved this quite as much if I weren’t about the same age as Ervick and the mother of a keeper, but it really spoke to me.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have mixed feelings about this book. As a student athlete in the 90s, specifically soccer and basketball, her struggles with fitting in and burnout really resonated with me. I never fully appreciated how lucky I was to play collegiate soccer in the mid-90s, how new women’s soccer was in the US at that time. But, I didn’t really care for the book style- the alternating historical perspectives and high school journal entries. It didn’t help it to feel cohesive enough.

[Audrey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Second book on a mini nonfiction kick. This one was really easy to read because it was a graphic novel. It helped me to realize I’m not the biggest fan of the graphic novel style. It wasn’t bad just wasn’t for me!

I learned so much about the history of women’s sports, specifically soccer and how Title IX is not that old in the grand scheme of things. I really related to the authors grappling with athleticism and femininity, with society saying that they shouldn’t exist together.

[Julia · Rating 3 out of 5]

A melancholy, wandering memoir about soccer, title ix, and growing up.

[Julie · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a delight! I zoomed through this book in less than two hours on a rainy Friday afternoon.

I'm a little too old to have benefitted from Title IX—my high school only had gymnastics and synchronized swimming teams for girls and I wasn't on them—but my stepdaughters, who were born in 1980 and 1982 both played soccer on community, middle school and high school teams, and the older one was even a goal keeper. As a result, I went to lots of soccer games as they were growing up. In addition, I have a keen interest in women's rights, so Kelcey Ervick's melding of her own experiences as a keeper and the historical women who played soccer/football and fought for women's rights resonated with me on two levels. On top of all that, I really loved the illustrations, which brought everything to life. Highly, highly recommended!

P.S. Both stepdaughters will be getting a copy of this book for their birthdays this year.

[Sofia · Rating 2 out of 5]

I expected this book to be more about Title IX and less about the history of women's football, due to the blurb. While I understand that that was not the author's intentions... this review subjective and entirely based on my personal preference (and disappointment). The illustrations were beautiful, but I don't feel like this story was emotionally resonant enough to deserve a higher rating - but that may just be because of my own (non-athletic, not-a-mother) experiences.

[Erin Cataldi · Rating 4 out of 5]

A quick and moving graphic novel that has never been more timely! Kelcey Ervick was a top soccer player in the 80s and was in the first wave of female athletes. This graphic novel reflects on the history of women's soccer, her youth spent playing soccer and what it meant to be a young female in the 80s, the ramifications of title IX, and growth of women's sports. The illustrations are top notch and the story is timely and inspiring. A must read for athletes, feminists, and more!

[Dakota Morgan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Boy, that subtitle is just egregiously inaccurate. How about "Soccer, Me, Nabokov, and a Huge Number of Women Who Countered the Male-Dominated Narrative of Sports and Culture"?

I get the feeling some young kids are going to pick up The Keeper expecting a gentle soccer memoir and be very surprised to find quotes from Nabokov and Camus, not to mention a back half of the book about the author's mid-life awakening as an academic and feminist. To be clear: I absolutely loved all that. Turns out, The Keeper was actually written precisely for me (as well as any female former college/high school athletes out there - I think they would love this book).

In the 80s, Kelcey Ervick was the star keeper for her traveling soccer team, high school team, and Xavier University team. She was probably locally famous! But The Keeper 100% is not some kind of high-powered zero-to-hero memoir. It's a local fame-to-soccer mom memoir, and proud of it. Ervick's narrative is interwoven with a history of women's soccer (surprising Victorian roots!) and women's rights in general (Title IX gets a big, well-deserved shout out - but it could have used a lot more discussion to earn the subtitle spot).

The Keeper is a far headier book than its sports roots might suggest. Ervick was an English major in college and is now a creative writing professor, so I suppose it's no surprise that she looks to novelists, memoirists, and poets for help understanding her latent feminism. The mid-life awakening portion of the book is perhaps a bit drawn out (it's missing the interwoven history), but it's a satisfying reminder that you can learn and grow at any point in life. I even liked the artwork, which also surprised me in its lack of typical graphic novel formatting. Free-flowing watercolors and hand-drawn lettering abound.

The Keeper is a work of intensely honest self-reflection that blows far past the claims of the subtitle. Pick it up and be astonished.

[Courtney · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kelcey does a lot with this volume. It's (most of) her life story, part history of Women's soccer (concerning the UK & US), how Title IX positively effected her, and she also makes connections to literature. Kelcey talks about how Camus and Nabokov were goal keepers and authors, which makes sense as that was her position on the field, this reminds of the cricket team the Allahakbarries which included many notable authors. When Kelcey talk about Nellie was called Tommy and accused/suspected of being a boy I was reminded of Imane Khelif and I am not surprised that this has been happening for over 100 years.
I don't know a ton about sports, and was somewhat proud that my college didn't have a football team. However I did have a roommate that played women's rugby, which was ranked as Division II and most of the other sports were Division III.

I appreciates that she gives a little attention to race and sports as well as race and literature, acknowledging her privilege and limited scope.

[Michelle Bruewer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read for a class this summer, but it was fantastic! Definitely a great addition for a classroom library. It’s a graphic novel that is equal parts memoir, about soccer, about women’s sports, and about writing. Loved the connection between sports and creativity.

[Justin DeWeese · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ervick captures the development of women's sports after Title IX through her time as a goalkeeper while also weaving in the history of how we got there in a graphic novel format.

[Dair · Rating 5 out of 5]

I picked this up on a whim and was completely surprised by it. Part autobiography, part study in literature and part history book. It kept my attention and I read it in one sitting. I thoroughly enjoyed the book and recommend it wholeheartedly.

[Debra · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kelcey Ervick's memoir includes the history of women's football/soccer. A woman can be an athlete, a writer, an artist, a mother, a teacher and a woman. This graphic novel has vivid colors, friendly art work, and readable lettering. Thank you to the women that gave us Title IX!

[Jenny · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this graphic memoir. I recently had the privilege of meeting its wonderful, kind, beyond talented author at the Midwest Writers Conference, and honestly her work is inspiring me to consider whether I, too, should incorporate more visual art into my work.

[Micah Spiece · Rating 5 out of 5]

I used to think that accessing an artist’s work was through a single sense, such as visual or performative or functional. Kelcey as my professor taught me otherwise, and Kelcey as an author has again done so. Her methods of delivery span the gamut in this work, combining raw images — paintings and drawings and painstaking recreations of photos — with some of the most concise sentences I’ve ever seen outside a newspaper. She melds autobiography with reflection, history with speculation, politics with sports, and literary acumen with current events. And the effect is one great example of an emerging number of graphic memoirs, but also wholly different and unique in its urgency, its earnestness, and its midwestern authenticity. I can hardly wait to reread it, as her nonlinear approach will surely yield more insight and internal references!

[Molly · Rating 5 out of 5]

I cannot wait for the world to read Kelcey Ervick's THE KEEPER.

Just in time for the 50th anniversary of the historic civil rights law that prohibited gender discrimination in schools, this extraordinary graphic memoir tells the story of how Title IX forever changed the lives of American women.

Ervick deftly shows this transformation by weaving together her own powerful story as a competitive soccer player in the 1980s with the story of the many women in history who led us to 1972, the year Title IX was made into law. Reading about Ervick and all the women who got us to where we are now will simultaneously make you proud and bring you to tears. You'll also love all the fabulous '80s references, taking you right back to the first time you used Sun-In while blasting Prince in the background.

This profound and important book is a must have for all those who love soccer, as well as being a perfect choice for history buffs and those who care about women's issues. It will also appeal greatly to readers who love graphic memoirs by Roz Chast, Alison Bechdel, Jarrett J. Krosoczka, and Allie Brush.

Most importantly, it is simply the best book you can buy for your daughter this year.

[Ryan Miller · Rating 5 out of 5]

Part personal soccer memoir, part historical examination of women in soccer and the advent (and benefits) of the Title IX revolution, with a recognition that the athletic field is not yet level for women.

[Andréa]

Note: I accessed a digital review copy of this book from the publisher through Edelweiss.

[Ellis · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was one of a few catalysts that combined together and led me to start watching NWSL games this past weekend (the others include two sports-related presentations on Dropout’s show Smarty Pants and then sports coming up again in therapy). This book also served as an interesting framework through which to view my own experiences playing soccer, K–5. While I think I was decently good, my team sucked, but we had fun (and then I moved across town and started puberty and quit because I felt incredibly dysphoric [but didn’t have the words for it at the time] and socially anxious).

Anyway, to the review: I really liked the history aspects of this memoir, as well as the interwoven reflections on soccer and particularly goalkeeping by classical authors. I learned a lot from those sections, and I’m now curious to learn more about the history of women’s soccer. I also liked reading about Ervick’s child and teen experiences playing as a keeper. I wish she had touched on the use of the male cardinal as the team’s mascot, however; there’s a brief mascot discussion later in the book, and that would have been a great opportunity to assess this outstanding girls’ team using a male cardinal as their team image. I’m unsure how well-known it is that cardinals are sexually dimorphic, tho (all the holiday decorations with two romantic red cardinals are gay, fyi), so maybe it’s not common knowledge.

I also appreciated that Ervick acknowledges the queerness of some of the early women’s soccer players, and that she portrays the inclusion of trans players as a positive thing. They’re small details and not at all the focus of the book, but their inclusion were still conscious choices that I applaud Ervick for making, particularly since we’ve seen so many heavy attacks against transwomen (in particular) in sports over the last few years.

To be honest, tho, I started to lose some interest as Ervick went beyond college and into her adulthood, probably because I don’t relate to being a parent and (former-ish) athlete the way she is, and potentially because I have some of my own weird feelings to unpack about creative writing (my undergrad degree, but I’ve written only a handful of poems since graduating six years ago, so there’s probably some guilt in there clouding my perspective on things).

Overall, tho, I enjoyed this book. It was insightful and interesting. I like Ervick’s art style as well, and the watercolor-ish and sketchy visualizations fit really well with reviewing memories that often have holes and rough areas in their details.

My final complaint is directed toward my library and is included here as more a note-to-self than as a reason for how I rated this book: I believe my library no longer has a license for the ebook (renewing stopped working after a period, and I got a notification that the library may not have the title; it also disappeared from the library catalogue).

[Ciara · Rating 3 out of 5]

As I was reading, I couldn't help but to think how amazing it would be to have more graphic novels that educate, cite sources and seek to educate audiences alongside beautiful artwork. Ervick writes about her soccer team as a child, how the game impacted her and the history of women playing the sport. She also details the role of Title IX in enhancing opportunities for young women in sport.

While most will view this book as a story about sports or about being a woman, I moreso see it as a story about community. Ervick was able to play on the same sports team for years and had some of those teammates follow her to college. Soccer, basketball was her life and she grew alongside her teammates throughout her young adult years playing sport. There are not many opportunities for that today and, unlike 1971 you would be hard pressed to find soccer teams coached by dads and moms handcrafting cookbooks to raise travel funds. This story really is the sign of the times. As Ervick was detailing the history of women's soccer, dating back over 100 years I couldn't help but feel nostalgic for the time when she was a player and how that era was something special. Ervick herself is a part of history.

While the book was a bit long and a little rambley, I did enjoy it and learned a lot. But this book would be even better for actual sports fans and I was looking forward to updates about the problems the 21st century US women's soccer team faced and all its controversy.

[Norma Panigot · Rating 5 out of 5]

Phenomenal. This book moved me in a way I’ve been missing recently. While I’m not much of a sports person, what I enjoyed most about this novel was the vulnerability and self-reflection. The story begins with Ervick’s coming of age. She writes a beautiful and reflective account of trademark teenage struggles and gender expectations that, for Ervick, directly conflicted with ambitions of being an athlete. The narrative progresses to Ervick’s later stages of life, including a period in time where she disdained the sport she had previously loved and being a working mother. The highs and lows of Ervick’s journey are expertly juxtaposed as are the highs and lows of the journey for female football athletes. Ervick’s insight, attention to detail, and ability to weave so many characters into one cohesive narrative cannot be understated.

What speaks to me most about this memoir is the seamless integration of the themes related to art, history, human ambition, and societal barriers. Ervick had the freedom to pursue her dreams because of the female activists and pioneers who paved the way. All these things, Ervick’s life and liberties, mine, yours, the US women’s national soccer team, the ridicule of the first female football players, and the rights of trans athletes today- it’s all connected. This is the power of artistic expression: to draw these parallels. A wonderful read overall.

[Marta Block · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s always soccer season in our house, but with the World Cup going on right now, soccer/futbol hype is at an all-time high! It’s the perfect time to read this new graphic novel by Kelcey Ervick.

Kelcey grew up playing competitive soccer. As a girl born in 1971, however, she was very close to missing a lot of opportunities new legislation (Title IX) provided women and girls. The book follows Kelcey on her soccer journey from club to high school to college with details about what else was happening in the world at that time, an overall history of women’s soccer (fascinating), and her own life story woven in.

I loved most aspects of this book - Kelcey’s own soccer career was interesting, especially all the twists and turns along the way. The history of soccer and the changes made to women’s sports was also captivating, and as a former athlete and mother of a female athlete, I appreciated all the research that went into such a comprehensive telling. The only parts that seemed a bit unnecessary were some later relationship issues (a failing marriage) which didn’t seem tied to the overall narrative.

I read most of this book with my 8-year-old daughter and we loved learning about all the pioneers of women’s soccer who allowed her to play today!

[Cynthia · Rating 5 out of 5]

An engaging graphic memoir of the author's role as a star soccer player in my hometown, revealing a culture I have never known and only heard about through historical or news reports. This memoir positions life as a female soccer player with both the exhilaration of the game, but also the way sport for some is a part of life, like eating, sleeping, and having friends.

It was an eye-opener for me as someone who was known as a "tom boy" kind of girl, but one who grew up far before Title IX. It made me wonder what I would have experienced had the same options for sports been available for me to channel my competitiveness and what then seemed like a natural athleticism.

I'm glad for girls now who can engage in such a life, and hope for more equity for them and for the oversight of and protection from those who would take advantage of both girls and boys who yearn for excellence in their various sports. Enjoyed both the narrative and the exuberant watercolors that capture both the details and feelings of a life in sport.

[Alicia · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a sleeper story! I saw this on the shelf in the library as I was straightening something up and pulled it off both because it was a memoir but also because it in the graphic novel format. And what I got was a vivid and thoughtful retrospective about being a woman in soccer using comparisons to historical figures, bringing in additional facts ("the Czech word for goalkeeper comes from the same root as the Gothic towers that protected Prague for centuries, like the Prasna Branq, The Powder Tower where gunpower was stored in the 1600s"), and providing a perspective that is both smartly integrated into her own story but provides a foundation for the strong person that she is because she has reflected on a life of success and hardship.

All athletes should read it. She shares memories of the past, her own journals, and reminisces that would encourage others to think about their own sports pasts and then adds a level of importance for the past as it has led to the future of women in sports (I LOVED her focus on Chastain's sports bra moment).

[Doreen Fritz · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fairly quick read, but fascinating. Kelcey, born the year I graduated from high school, was a beneficiary of Title IX, which forced schools to offer interscholastic sports programs to girls and boys equally. I loved my high school years in GAA (Girls Athletic Association), which was basically organized intramurals. I'm not sure I would have embraced the competitive and even cut-throat world Kelcey was in. This book tells her story, as well as the history of women's sports, both in the US and abroad. It definitely benefits the super-talented in that girls and women can make money and gain recognition and accolades for their athletic abilities in a way my generation could not. The book is heavily illustrated (as a graphic novel), and printed on heavy paper, so it takes some muscle to hold and read it, but I thoroughly enjoyed this one. Also, I will be seeing the author this weekend at the Washington Island Literary Festival, so I finished it just in time.

[vanessa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was quite smart and riveting. The thing that worked best here for me is the collage take on the art; pages may have lots of text or barely any, and it really moves the story along well. I loved the intermingling of history and personal memoir. It's so cool that the author/illustrator was so "in the moment" - she was a part of one of the first groups of girls who could take advantage of Title IX and she was in the same circles with women who ended up at the World Cup. I appreciated learning about how the lack of opportunities available to women in this time period led her on a very defined life path (marriage, stay home with kids), which she is taking back with this book and her art. It's also a good look at what the grownups in her life (her community) did to make their team get as far as they did and revisiting those relationships later in life.

[Isabelle Altman · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have a hard time with graphic novels and probably wouldn't have read this one if it wasn't assigned for a class. But it was so good, great as a memoir and as a book about women's sports history. I definitely want to learn more about some of the earliest soccer (ahem "football" as many of them were in the UK) players like the Dick, Kerr ladies in the early 1900s. Kelcey Ervick clearly did great research, not just into the history of women's sports and Title IX but into her own past, quoting her diaries, her mom's coverage of her games, her coach's video tapes of their team's triumphs. And most of all I loved the end of Chapter 13, which is the real end of the book. (The chapter after is more of an epilogue.) Without going into spoilers, the last page encapsulates everything she's achieved and everything women are capable of.