Former athletes pen ‘Willow’s Way’ to tackle teen girls’ sport dropout trend

Cover art for Willow’s Way: young Willow cradles a soccer ball while her reflection beams back as a confident athlete. Photo: Illustration by Casey Smerczynski

PARK CITY, Utah — Former athletes Sarah Sutin and Mackenzie Morse want young girls to stay in the game. Their new children’s book, Willow’s Way, released June 23 through Barnes & Noble Press, tackles the self-doubt and outside pressures that push many girls out of sports before high school.

“Willow’s Way is a tool for parents, coaches and teachers to start conversations about perseverance and self-worth,” Sutin said in an interview. “We’re watching rec leagues disappear while club teams get pricier and more cut-throat. Girls feel they have to be the best or there’s no point.”

The story follows Willow, a soccer-struck grade-schooler who realizes “she doesn’t have to be perfect to be good.” One page reads: “Charlie’s words were powerful. They made her feel seen. Maybe she did have strengths to add to the team.” Another reminds readers, “To make a good team, you need all kinds of players. It takes different talents to add up in layers.”

Illustrations come from Casey Smerczynski, a former Division I rugby player and longtime baseball devotee who splits her days between work as an artist-filmmaker and service as an Army combat medic. Smerczynski printed every character’s skin tone in black and white to keep the book “accessible and relatable for all children,” Sutin said.

Sutin, a former competitive tennis player turned mental-performance coach, works with youth athletes across Utah. Morse played ice hockey and rugby before joining the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee’s athlete-outreach staff. Their shared East Coast roots brought them separately to Park City, where they connected over a mutual concern: national studies show girls quit sports at roughly twice the rate of boys by age 13.

Sutin drills her clients—and Willow—on two basics: remember your “why” and tame your self-talk. “Journaling about what you love in your sport brings the fun back,” she said. “And you talk to yourself more than anyone. Learning to reframe negative thoughts is huge.”

Early reviews underline the book’s reach. A Park City Montessori teacher praised its “timely but powerful” message and its diverse, grayscale drawings that let “every child see themselves in Willow.”

The authors will read and sign books at Dolly’s Bookstore on Aug. 30 at 1 p.m. and at the Kimball Barnes & Noble on Sept. 20. Additional school visits are in the works; event updates will appear on their website.

Willow’s Way is available online at barnesandnoble.com and will soon stock select local shelves. “Our hope,” Sutin said, “is to put this story on as many nightstands as possible—so the next generation of girls knows sport is for all of them.”