<div dir="ltr"><div>All,</div><div>Please find attached and below Alan Zaremba's review of <i>As Fast as Her--Kemdall Cloyne</i>.</div><div>Thanks</div><div>Duncan</div><div><br></div><div>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:center;margin:0in;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif" align="center"><i>As Fast As Her--</i>Kendall
Coyne<i><span></span></i></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:center;margin:0in;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif" align="center">Alan Zaremba<span></span></p>
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University<span></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"><i>As Fast As Her</i> (Zondervan 2022) is a memoir authored
by Kendall Coyne, currently the captain of the United States Women’s Ice Hockey
team.<span> </span>Coyne has won two Olympic Silver medals,
has one Gold, and is a six-time world champion.<span>
</span>She is also an active member of the Professional Women’s Hockey Players
Association. (PWHPA)<span></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">The book is sometimes, but not always, catalogued as a
“Teen” or YA book.<span> </span>The YA cataloguing is
unfortunate.<span> </span>While the book can be read
and enjoyed by younger readers, the message within would be inspirational for
anyone who reads this well-written memoir.<span>
</span>The book compares favorably to recent adult sports memoirs such as Megan
Rapinoe’s <i>One Life, and </i>Carli Lloyd’s <i>When Nobody was Watching.<span> </span></i><span> </span>A
theme in Rapinoe’s book is the importance of using your “one life”
constructively.<span> </span>Lloyd emphasizes the
need to work indefatigably at your craft in order to excel.<span> </span>Coyne makes these points as or more
powerfully.<span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">Ms. Coyne describes her evolution as a hockey player from
her years as a toddler through her staggering feat in the 2019 NHL All-Star
speed competition. In that event, Coyne, a last-minute replacement for a male
contestant, came in second with an astonishing time that startled the hockey establishment.
Those 14.346 seconds have changed attitudes about women in sports, and women in
society. It will take time to assess the relative impact of the feat, but one
could argue that the speed competition will be, in the context of gender
equity, as pivotal as any other sport contest including the Billie Jean King-Bobby
Riggs 1973 tennis match referred to as the “Battle of the Sexes.” <span> </span>Coyne devotes a chapter to the speed skating
competition. She writes: “My life exploded with e-mails, messages, mail, appearances,
speeches, and interview requests, hearing from so many people how that moment
changed their lives too.”<span></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">Coyne recounts her early battles with gender
discrimination.<span> </span>She played on boys’
teams but at times was prohibited from competing because of her gender even
when her skills surpassed her teammates’.<span>
</span>She recounts the derisive chatter from spectators—including parents—who
did not want her to compete with boys.<span>
</span>Readers learn of her industrious approach to the game and remarkable
dedication to excellence.<span> </span>She was
fortunate to have loving parents and siblings who supported her ambition even
when to do so was costly and an enormous time sap.<span> </span>The parental support is in contrast to what
is depicted in Lloyd’s book (not referenced in Coyne’s memoir) where issues of
family tensions for the soccer player had to be overcome.<span></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">The consistent inspirational message in <i>As Fast As Her</i>
is that athletes can achieve despite obstacles if there is sufficient energy
dedicated to the pursuit of goals.<span> </span>The author
speaks to all, but clearly wants young women to see hockey as an activity not
reserved for men.<span> </span>She is deservedly
proud of being a trailblazer and is clear to identify women in hockey who were
role models for her.<span> </span>I am many years
removed from my years of sports competition, but the pervasive message in the
book made me consider how important it is to not let obstacles stop those who
desire to achieve.<span> </span>I believe it will
have the same effect on most readers regardless of their vintage or even how much
they participate in sports.<span></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">There are some remarkable stories of how good fortune was a
result of being in the right place at the right time because of dedication and
perspective.<span> </span>Coyne was a victim of a
bait and switch with a college recruiter and while that was distressing and disappointing,
she was able to take another route, attend a different university, and find the
value of the new hand she was dealt.<span> </span>A
few times she arrived for a competition and her equipment did not; each time serendipity,
focus, and the largesse of others allowed her to compete.<span> </span>The sections dealing with how she and other
women athletes negotiated for wages comparable to their male counterparts provided
other examples of how energy and focus can result in success. <span></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">The writing in this memoir is conversational yet the
messages are substantive.<span> </span>Pithy quotes
appear throughout. There is a recurring feature called “Golden Coyne.”<span> </span>These are pieces of advice which could be
off-putting if they were simply banal platitudes, but the comments will
resonate with anyone who eschews pompous disdain and has ever competed. The
book concludes with a timeline that identifies how women’s hockey has evolved.
The events in the timeline are interspersed with Coyne’s own activity and participation
in the evolution of hockey.<span></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">Billie Jean King wrote the foreword for <i>As Fast as Her</i>.<span> </span>In it, King includes this commentary: “…in
this book [Coyne] reveals her character—the root of her inner success.”<span> </span>The excerpt is an apt and concise summary of
a book that is a valuable read.<span> </span>College
students interested in sport, even those who are non-athletes will enjoy the
read.<span> </span>Those who examine sports history and
the sociology of sport will find the book valuable as a contribution to the
evolution of women’s battle for equality.<span>
</span>This is not, nor was it intended to be, an academic monograph.<span> </span>It will, however, contribute to what academics
know about the evolution of women in sports.<span></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"><i>As Fast As Her</i>—(Kendall Coyne with Estelle Laure)<span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">Zondervan (2022)<span></span></p>
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</div><div><div><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature">Remember to smell the roses as you recumber past<br><br>Duncan R. Jamieson, Ph. D.<br>Professor of History<br>Book Review Editor<br><i>AETHLON: The Journal of Sport Literature</i><br>Ashland University<br>Ashland, OH 44805<br>USA<br></div></div></div></div>