Crashing the Net

In Crashing the Net Mary Turco tells the remarkable story of the first U.S. Women's Olympic Ice Hockey Team and their unforgettable journey to becoming gold medal winners at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan. Turco followed this dream team for many months as they trained in practice arenas and tournaments across the United States and Canada in anticipation of Nagano. In a lively narrative filled with intimate details of pregame locker room tensions, the Olympic team selection process, the drama of the battles on ice, and the personal friendships that were made along the way, Turco provides an inspirational behind-the-scenes look at how this team came to glory. We meet a wonderful cast of characters: twenty high-achieving, defiant female athletes, both seasoned players and enthusiastic rookies; their coach, a mythical figure in men's ice hockey who treated his players as world-class athletes; and the players' families and friends, who encouraged these girls to follow their dreams, challenge prejudice against contact sports for women, and risk everything in crashing the net.

Beyond its central premise, the book can be read through the connected lenses of Nonfiction. Those themes offer useful points of attention as the characters, ideas, or world develop, especially where the book complicates the expectations of its primary category.