What is the main message of WOLFPACK?

The main message of WOLFPACK is to empower women to embrace their power and create a supportive community.

How long does it take to read WOLFPACK?

The reading time for WOLFPACK varies depending on the reader's speed. However, the Blinkist summary can be read in just a few minutes.

Who is the author of WOLFPACK?

The author of WOLFPACK is Abby Wambach.

Career & Success

WOLFPACK Book Summary - WOLFPACK Book explained in key points

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WOLFPACK summary

Name: WOLFPACK
Rating: 4 (57 reviews)
Author: Abby Wambach

Abby Wambach

How to Come Together, Unleash Our Power, and Change the Game

4 (57 ratings)

21 mins

Brief summary

Wolfpack by Abby Wambach empowers women to embrace their innate strengths and break free from societal expectations. Drawing inspiration from her own experiences, she encourages readers to unite as a team to create a more equal and just world.

Topics

Memoirs Sports Inspiration

Table of Contents

WOLFPACK
Summary of 7 key ideas

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Key idea 1 of 7

What’s in it for me? Make female solidarity your goal.

When it comes to gender equality, society still has a long way to go. Even in today’s supposedly woke world, many women are still playing by the old rules of the patriarchy. These rules tell girls not to venture off the beaten track. They tell women to be thankful for what they’re given and not to ask for more. Worst of all, they tell females that other women are the competition, and they must be in a constant battle for scarce feminine power.

Thankfully, Abby Wambach is here to give you some new rules. Drawing on nearly two decades of teamwork and sporting successes with other women, Wambach will show you that, far from being your adversaries, other women are your wolf pack. With them at your side, you can achieve bigger goals, overcome any obstacles in your way and unleash your true potential.

In these blinks, you’ll discover

why women need to embrace failure;
how gratitude can hold women back; and
the qualities a great leader really needs.

Trailblazing women are less like Little Red Riding Hood and more like the wolf.

Society likes to remind us that disobedient girls pay a high price for their waywardness. Just consider the tale of Little Red Riding Hood, the young girl who ignores clear instructions to continue along the path and avoid the woods. What happens to her? The Big Bad Wolf, that’s what. The moral of this fairytale is obvious – rules exist to be followed, and little girls shouldn’t get too curious.

And yet, as she reflects on her life and career, Abby Wambach can’t see a lot of truth in this old story. In fact, the best things in her life happened when she followed in Little Red Riding Hood’s footsteps and veered off the beaten track.

As a teenager, for example, Wambach dated boys. Why? Because it seemed to be what every other girl her age was doing. But something was missing from these early encounters, and during high school, she realized she was gay. Scared of her family’s judgment, Wambach initially hid this part of her identity, even from herself. Toward the end of high school, though, she fell in love and finally embraced her sexuality. This was her first taste of what it meant to step off the beaten path and go against the grain, following her heart rather than the status quo.

Wambach’s most cherished role models are women who have chosen their own way in life, too. Indeed, Wambach’s incredible sporting career couldn’t have happened without the trailblazing female soccer players that came before her, who refused to accept the status quo and the idea that soccer was a man’s sport. These were the women who went into battle to bring about Title IX, the federal law dictating that no one, whether male or female, should experience educational discrimination, including on the sports field. It was these women who created leagues for professional women’s soccer and fought for a living wage for professional female soccer players.

Given how much of her career and happiness has come about by her and other women’s refusal to do what society tells them to do, or stay on the designated path, Wambach now believes that all women should strive to be less like Little Red Riding Hood, and more like the wolf – powerful, courageous, and hungry for more.

Gratitude is good, but equality is better.

When Wambach retired from professional soccer in 2015, ESPN honored her incredible career with an Icon Award at their glamorous awards show, the ESPYS. Standing on the stage that night, Wambach was filled with gratitude toward the sporting world for allowing her to experience this moment. But as she lay in bed that night, her ears still ringing with applause, the gratitude melted away and was replaced with a darker emotion – anger.

Wambach’s rage stemmed from a moment earlier in the evening when she had shared the ESPYS stage with two more retiring athletes who also received Icon awards, Kobe Bryant and Peyton Manning.

Women need to embrace failure and use it to empower themselves.

As a promising young player on the Youth National team, Wambach was given an exciting peek into her idols’ lives during a tour of the U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team locker room. As she tried to take in everything around her, one item stood out – a photograph. Someone had put up an image from the 1995 world cup match between the U.S. Women’s Team and their Norwegian counterparts. But something didn’t make sense. Wambach knew that this was a game that her heroes had lost. Why, she wondered, was a photo of their defeat taking pride of place in their locker room?

Five years on, when she joined the national team herself, Wambach finally plucked up the courage to ask about that photograph. The answer she received would change her outlook on failure forever.

Women need to celebrate each other, both on and off the playing field.

The most exhilarating moments of any soccer match come when a goal is scored. During her extraordinary career, Wambach has been responsible for many of these moments herself. In fact, in international games alone, she’s scored 184 goals! But if you get a chance to see her score, take a closer look at what she does in the seconds after the ball hits the back of the net. Look carefully, and you’ll see that as her ecstatic teammates run toward her, Wambach is always pointing at them.

What’s behind this trademark gesture? Recognition. She’s pointing at the other players in recognition that it was they who made her success possible.

Wambach turned on her full power when she witnessed her idol unleashing hers.

When Wambach was just eighteen years old, she had the chance to test her mettle against one of her heroes. The hero in question was Michelle Akers, one of the world’s greatest soccer players. As luck would have it, Akers needed to get some extra training in, and she agreed to play a match against Wambach’s youth team. By the end of the game, Wambach’s view of herself was permanently changed.

Despite the exciting circumstances, the game started in a relaxed fashion, with Akers giving her younger opponents plenty of coaching tips on how to improve their game. However, as the match headed into its final minutes, Akers realized that her own team was three goals down, and in serious danger of losing.

Great leaders are authentic, vulnerable and take suggestions from everyone.

Sometimes it’s easier to be aggressive than vulnerable. In 2008, the U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team knew all about aggression. They were the world’s best team, and the secret of their success was physical dominance. Under Wambach’s co-captaincy, the team unashamedly won games by intimidating and strong-arming their opponents.

So imagine the team’s horror when their new coach, Pia Sundhage, produced a guitar during their first training session together, and gently sang a Bob Dylan song to them.

Every woman needs a wolf pack, so reach out to yours.

After seventeen incredible years of professional soccer, Wambach finally retired. And with retirement came rest. In fact, she gave her body a full three years to recover from decades of physical exertion. When that time was up, she got back into exercise by starting a running program. This should have been easy for a former professional sportswoman, right? Wrong. Every time she ran, Wambach’s whole body ached.

After years of doing far more exercise than this, Wambach wondered, why was she suffering so much now?

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What is WOLFPACK about?

WOLFPACK (2019) is a rallying cry for women to join together, empower each other and celebrate one another’s achievements. Drawing on her incredible career as a professional athlete, author Abby Wambach explores how women everywhere can gain strength in numbers and achieve equality, fulfillment and joy.

WOLFPACK Review

WOLFPACK (2019) by Abby Wambach is a powerful manifesto for women, urging them to break free from the rules and norms society imposes. Here's why you should read this book:

With its empowering message of unity and solidarity, it motivates women to support and uplift each other, helping them shatter glass ceilings together.
Wambach's personal stories and experiences as a professional athlete captivate readers, making the book relatable and impactful.
It offers a fresh perspective on leadership, challenging traditional notions of power and encouraging women to embrace their unique strengths and skills.

Best quote from WOLFPACK

When you stand up and demand the ball, you give others permission to do the same.

—Abby Wambach

Who should read WOLFPACK?

Feminists looking for their next champion
Sports enthusiasts seeking fresh insights
Fans of inspirational memoirs

About the Author

Abby Wambach is a double Olympic gold medalist, FIFA World Cup Champion and the highest international goal scorer of all time, for both male and female soccer players. In addition to being a champion for diversity and equality, Wambach is also the New York Times best-selling author of Forward: A Memoir.

Categories with WOLFPACK

Career & Success Personal Development

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