By John Hartsock
jhartsock@altoonamirror.com
Lifelong Altoona resident Travis DiLeo, now 36 years of age, has loved the sport of soccer since he was a young boy.
He excelled on the varsity soccer team at Altoona Area High School before graduating from there in 2006, went on to play and coach the sport briefly on the collegiate level, and, after graduating with a bachelor's degree from Penn State and a masters degree from the University of Pittsburgh, is now an exercise physiologist and strength conditioning specialist who has opened his own soccer training academy for young players in order to help them maximize their potential in the sport.
Besides conducting soccer lessons, DiLeo also provides soccer clinics and summer soccer camps for young players.
DiLeo recently started a new chapter in his lifelong soccer journey when he authored a book on soccer techniques after being contacted last May by the publisher from the Penguin Random House publishing company.
The 105-page book, entitled "Soccer Stars … Stories And Skills From The World's Best Soccer Players" was released on Tuesday, and DiLeo will be available to the public for a book signing this Saturday afternoon from 2 to 5 p.m. at the Barnes and Noble book store in the Logan Towne Centre.
DiLeo said that becoming a published author writing about the sport that he loves was a completely unexpected opportunity that arose from the Random House publisher coming across DiLeo's online Instagram account.
"This wasn't even on my radar,'' DiLeo said of the writing opportunity. "I use my Instagram account specifically to put out content from my in-person soccer lessons and to build an online presence. And then this publishing company - which happens to be the biggest online publishing company in the world - reached out and contacted me after reading my profile and I was asked if I wanted to write a book, which, of course, I accepted.
"This is perfect because I grew up obsessed with soccer and I grew up admiring all of these professional soccer players that are profiled in the book,'' said DiLeo, whose book is being marketed for soccer players in grades 3 through 7. "It's really cool that I can write a book about these professional players and share that book with the next generation of kids who are playing soccer.''
There are 10 former or current professional players profiled in the book, and Random House gave DiLeo the authority to choose all but three.
"They left it up to me who to pick, but they said that there were three players that they wanted in it - (women's soccer star) Mia Hamm and (men's soccer stars) Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, who are the two best players ever to play the game,'' DiLeo said.
Watching videos of each of the players and taking screen shots of the players on his phone, DiLeo would break down each player's skill set, write about their various skills, and piece together the profiles side-by-side. He would then work together with Andrew Carman, a graphic artist at Random House, who would take DiLeo's screen shots and put together illustrations, as well as the cover for the book.
"My job was to pick the players, take the pictures of them, and break down their soccer skills and moves, so that the young players can learn them,'' DiLeo said. "I wrote the stories, Random House fact-checked them, and their graphic artist Andrew Carman did a wonderful job of putting together the illustrations. Everything came out in a format that is very easy for the reader.''
DiLeo pointed out that all of the professional players profiled faced significant adversity of one type or another, but they all overcame that adversity to excel in both soccer and in life. Mia Hamm coped with the passing of her beloved brother, Garrett, while Messi dealt with an autoimmune disease. Goalkeeper Tim Howard lives with Tourette's Syndrome, and Christian Pulisic - a native of Hershey, Pa. who is still playing soccer - dealt successfully with a mental health condition with the help of therapy.
Teaching young soccer players the life lesson that the adversity that a person or an athlete faces need not define an individual is as important - perhaps more so - as imparting a particular soccer skill or set of set of skills, DiLeo said.
"Each player that was profiled in the book excelled in the sport and was chosen for a specific purpose, because they overcame one of life's challenges,'' DiLeo said. "The whole point of this book is to inspire the soccer youth community.''
Angelica Martinez, the editor of the book at Random House's Zeitgeist department, said that DiLeo was a natural for writing the book.
"When we found Travis, I knew that he would bring a wonderful blend of expertise and enthusiasm to the book,'' Martinez said in an email to the Mirror. "Right from the start, his love for soccer and teaching kids made him the ideal author to bring this project to readers.
"I have no doubt that kids will truly get a kick (pun intended) from all the stories that he has put together for them,'' Martinez added.
Portia Turner, who will market the book for Random House, is also appreciative of DiLeo's efforts.
"Travis's love of soccer is infectious,'' Turner said in an email. "I am so glad that I got the opportunity to work with him and combine his love of soccer and youth sports with my love of children's literacy and middle-grade books.
"Even though I am in no way athletic, talking to Travis and reading this book makes me want to go outside and kick a ball around,'' Turner quipped.
DiLeo's book - which is endorsed by Penn State women's soccer coach Erica Dambach, professional soccer trainer Aaron Byrd, and retired major league soccer player Corey Hertzog -- will be one of several books with sports themes that the Random House organization will be marketing to young athletes over the next five to 10 years.
DiLeo's book first became available to the general public on Tuesday, and is available by logging on to Amazon.com or the Barnes and Noble website and typing DiLeo's name in the search bar. The cost of the book is $13.99 for a paperback and $9.99 for the kindle (online) version.
"My goal in writing this book is to inspire kids and get them to believe in themselves,'' DiLeo said. "I'm hoping that these stories that the kids are going to read will inspire the kids, and will keep them pushing forward.''