Recently, I decided it would be a good idea to have a dedicated post for each of the books I’ve written up to this point. I’ve done one for my first novel, The Holy Fool, my first poetry chapbook, The Flow and the Journey, and my 2023 novel, The Yank Striker. I decided now would be the best time to release a new post for the sequel to The Yank Striker, entitled The Yank Striker’s Journey. Consider this to be your introduction to Journey and your introduction (or reintroduction, as the case might be) to the world of the budding American soccer superstar Daniel John “DJ” Ryan.
The Yank Striker Series
[NOTE: The following is likely to contain spoilers for The Yank Striker, Book 1 in the series. If you are desperate to avoid spoilers at all costs, you might want to stop here. Or, maybe you’d like to check out this article about The Yank Striker and consider getting it for yourself before trying out Book 2. Anyway, consider this your warning.]
It started a few years ago when my decades-long obsession around the sport of soccer got me thinking about setting a story in that world. As have many other fans of the US Men’s National Team, I often wondered what the first American men’s soccer superstar would look like. Unlike many of my fellow fans, I decided to see if I could create one through fiction.
What eventually came about from my perpetual stew of fiction ideas was the character of Daniel John “DJ” Ryan, the son of a college football championship-winning coach from Liberty Rock Park, Texas (somewhere around Dallas, let’s say). He grew up catching the passes of his quarterback brother, Trey, both at home and on their high school football team. DJ sees joining his brother on their father’s team, the Hamilton State University Copperheads, as his best chance at an eventual NFL career, especially since Trey is considered to be a potential Heisman Trophy winner in his sophomore year.
However, DJ also shows talent at soccer, and he has a talent for scoring goals for both his high school team and a local semipro outfit as their striker or center forward, the tip of the spear of a soccer team’s attack. It’s while playing for the former in the state championship tournament that he’s noticed by a scout for an English Premier League team in the East End of London, Donford FC.
He’s soon torn between staying around home and trying for the NFL, or taking a big gamble on himself in the high pressure world of English soccer in an unfamiliar place.
In addition, he’s keeping a secret about his personal life involving his sexual orientation that could be a major complication for him, whatever decision he makes. He considers himself bisexual or pansexual, depending on the mood he is in (DJ’s not good at labels). However, he is not trying to flaunt his orientation because it could be a major complication in either the NFL or world soccer.
He’s also trying to respect the wishes of his mother. She wants to keep quiet the fact she left Junior in part due to her infidelity, but also because she fell in love with her female best friend and business partner, Navy veteran Riley Jordan. This is because Jennifer (DJ’s mother) wishes to keep the peace with her religiously strict parents and not bring undue attention to her ex-husband, whom she still considers a friend.
Big Spoilers Coming: Watch out [YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED]
DJ initially chooses to play on the gridiron alongside his brother and under the coaching of his father at Hamilton State University.
However, he is soon accosted by the university’s athletic director, a closeted gay, who becomes aware of DJ’s orientation and attempts to blackmail him into having a relationship. When DJ admits this to his father, Junior believes him and vows to protect him, but pleads with his son to keep things quiet until after the football season has concluded to avoid any distractions. Instead, DJ outs himself and the athletic director, quits the Copperheads, and accepts the offer to try out with Donford.
The Next Step in the Journey
The Yank Striker’s Journey focuses on what DJ has to face now he is trying to establish himself as a footballer1 in England, a goal filled with numerous pitfalls.
First, there are the ordinary pressures of proving himself in the English Premier League, arguably the most competitive football league in the world. Just eighteen years old, DJ is attempting to grow and improve as a player in a league many take years to adapt to. And he’s attempting to do so at Donford, a modestly successful club compared to most in English football.
On top of this, DJ is attempting to chase success thousands of miles away from his home, away from his lifelong support system of parents, brother, friends, and former romantic companions. He’s having to forge new friendships with teammates, as well as gain their trust and that of Donford manager Barry Blake. And, he’s having to do this as an American in a league where Americans have forged successful careers but never superstar careers.
And finally, he’s having to do this as an openly bisexual athlete in an environment where this is a rarity, where most LGBTQ players in the Premier League or other top European leagues only rarely reveal their orientation, and usually either near the end of their careers or after it. While dealing with the skepticism of fans unsure about LGBTQ players, there are many LGBTQ fans who see in DJ someone to look up to, and he doesn’t want to disappoint them.
For better or worse, however, DJ is not alone in his journey.
Donford has another LGBTQ player on their roster, fellow eighteen-year-old Alexander Roberto De Sousa Dias, better known as Lexx. He was the next great teenaged talent from Brazil, like Pele, Ronalhdino, Neymar Jr., and so many others, but he fell in love with the teenage son of the president of the Brazilian Football Federation and got blackballed from Brazilian football as a result. Donford hopes DJ can be a support to Lexx in addition to an asset on the field.
DJ’s happy to take the responsibility on, because he can use all the friends he can get in England, and he bonds with the young Brazilian as they look to prove themselves in the league and in the tradition-laden and prestigious Football Association (FA) Cup tournament. But as the season goes on, DJ’s emotional ties become increasingly complicated.
How does a soccer or football superstar begin his journey to the top? It happens one step at a time.
Where Can You Get the Book?
Currently, the book is available in paperback. My publisher said it is likely to be available in ebook version at a later date.
You can buy my book on Amazon for $14.95 at this link.
Now, some of you might not be fans of Amazon.com for whatever reason. I understand. In that case, you can purchase the paperback directly from my publishers, Biblio Publishing, at this link.
I’m also making those links available in my profile and in the sidebar of this blog. For any further questions, contact me.
While I do appreciate you following this blog, I really would like you to subscribe to my Substack page. By subscribing to that page, you’ll not only be receiving my Substack newsletter, The Writing Life With Jason Liegois (the companion blog to this one), but you’ll also be signing up for my email list. Just click the button below.
- Sometimes football and soccer will be used a bit interchangeably to describe the same game both here and in the book. Those are the breaks, as they say. ↩︎
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