Cloepfil To Explore Athletics, Art & Identity in Upcoming Reading

Assistant Women’s Soccer Coach and Adjunct Assistant Professor of Rhetoric, Writing, and Public Discourse Georgia Cloepfil will take the stage Thursday, Nov. 14, to read for the Visiting Writers Reading Series at 6 p.m. in Kimball Theatre in Hunter Conservatory. Cloepfil’s nonfiction debut, “The Striker and the Clock,” was published by Riverhead (U.S.) and Bloomsbury (U.K.) in July 2024.

When she’s not teaching or coaching, Cloepfil writes extensively about her experiences as a professional soccer player and the evolving landscape of women’s athletics. Her work has been featured in The Washington Post, The Yale Review, and The New York Times Magazine, among others. Through her writing, Cloepfil skillfully captures the complexities of sports and identity, offering readers a deep and nuanced perspective on the pursuit of excellence both on and off the field.

“The Striker and the Clock,” is crafted in 90 short passages, mirroring the 90 minutes of a soccer match, immersing readers in the joys and challenges of serious athletics. As a writer, Cloepfil says she is drawn to themes that have shaped her experience as an athlete—gender, mortality, pain, joy and work. Through vivid prose, she offers a poetic exploration of these elements, presenting the athlete as both artist and dreamer. Driven by the desire to create a sports narrative that goes beyond fame-focused memoirs, Cloepfil captures the raw pursuit of excellence in professional women’s soccer, bringing a unique, unvarnished truth to the genre.

Through her experiences in women’s soccer, Cloepfil found herself rethinking her views on labor, compensation and the idea of a “dream job.” She notes, “There is a very American way of thinking about work that I am fully brainwashed by—that the individual can dream or aspire to make work the meaning of their life.” Playing abroad pushed her to question the concept of a “dream job,” and every new place offered insights that reshaped her relationship with soccer and the meaning of work itself. 

Speaking to a liberal arts audience at Whitman, Cloepfil is especially excited to share her insights with student-athletes and artists alike, encouraging them not to define themselves by a single pursuit. “College is a time when many of us recalibrate our relationship with things that have defined us since childhood,” she observes. Her book speaks to the process of understanding how different parts of our identity connect, as well as the often difficult act of letting go. Cloepfil hopes that her story will resonate with Whitman’s students, inspiring them to embrace the many facets of their own identities.

At the event, Cloepfil will read from her work and answer questions. The reading is open to the Whitman community and the public.