Rose Lavelle has a bit of an untraditional form of cross-training as she preps for the Paris 2024 Olympics: curling up with a good book.
“Being an athlete, there are always so many eyes on you and a lot of noise,” the 29-year-old soccer midfielder tells PS from her New Jersey home the day before the US Olympic women’s soccer team team was announced. “So I love sitting at home with a coffee and my Kindle. It’s such a nice way to switch off and go into another world.”
The Cincinnati native’s love for reading started in school, when she’d find herself feeling guilty for ignoring her textbooks and opting for her own reading list. “I would punish myself,” Lavelle admits, “like, I don’t deserve to read for pleasure if I’m not going to be fully committed to reading for school.”
Among her early favorites were “The Clique” series by Lisi Harrison, as well as Carolyn Keene’s “Nancy Drew” books, which she read with her friends, and Laura Ingalls Wilder’s “Little House on the Prairie,” which she learned about from her grandmother, also an avid reader. But if she could only read one thing for the rest of life, Lavelle picks the Harry Potter series, naming “Goblet of Fire” as a top choice among the seven books. Although, Lavelle adds, “I’m not gonna pin myself down and say that’s my absolute favorite, but so much happens and it’s so fun.”
It’s an appropriate choice since at the time of our chat, she’s in the midst of Sarah J. Maas’ “Throne of Glass.” “I’m on a fantasy kick right now, but I really do bounce around everywhere,” Lavelle says, describing herself as a “mood reader,” who enjoys digging into everything from romance to nonfiction and self-help as well. With her Goodreads account connected to Kindle, Lavelle also delights in the process of choosing her next book, rating every read and then constantly adding to her TBR (to be read) list.
Lavelle’s not the only American player on the field with a penchant for pages. She finds that whether it’s with the US Women’s National Team or her pro team Gotham FC, “I just always gravitate toward the other book lovers,” she says. “We’re always sharing recommendations.”
In fact, she and two fellow USWNT members-turned-Olympic teammates, defender Naomi Girma of San Diego Wave FC and defender Emily Fox of Arsenal FC, have gone viral for being a part of the unofficial women’s soccer book club, the Kindle Crew. “It’s just nice to have other people who love to read books – it’s something that you can bond over outside of just soccer,” Lavelle says. “We all get so excited because loving books is like a whole different world.”
Lavelle says she usually turns to Fox for fantasy recommendations and Girma for the same wide-ranging genres she’s into. Some of their top summer reading picks include Girma’s favorites, Evie Woods’s “The Lost Bookshop” and Myra Sack’s “Fifty-Seven Fridays,” and Fox’s picks, Bryan Stevenson’s “Just Mercy” and Maas’s “House of Flame and Shadow.”
The Kindle Crew reading sessions pop up organically, often during recovery time, when they’re sitting around in compression boots. “Honestly, we all bring our Kindles everywhere, so there are moments we all have them out,” Lavelle says. “There’s always time to read.” She even squeezes pages in during eight-minute ice baths. “It’s such a good distraction, and you can get seven or eight pages in,” she says. “I’m more of a slow reader, so I get five pages in.”
The athlete admitted that she used to be a proponent of tangible books until she went to Tokyo for her first Olympics in 2021. “I panicked because we weren’t going to be allowed to leave the hotel room because of Covid,” she recalls. “I panic-ordered a Kindle and have not looked back since. Now instead of packing eight books, I have a million at my disposal.”
Courtesy of Kindle
Though she’s now officially partnered with the Amazon device, Lavelle was already spreading the word long before the collaboration. “I keep saying my first job is playing soccer, and my second is selling people on Kindles – and I’m pretty successful in doing so,” she says with a grin. “Because of how much we travel, it’s just so easy to take anywhere. Mine does not leave my side since you never know where you can get a couple pages in.”
Lavelle uses her “OG Kindle,” the Kindle Paperwhite, which is made to mimic actual paper pages, to read fiction, and her newer Kindle Scribe, which allows for realistic note-taking with its included pen, for nonfiction so she can jot down thoughts along the way.
While reading helps Lavelle stave off pressure surrounding the upcoming Olympics, her number-one way to destress is by focusing on the moment and remaining present. “I think when you look too far ahead, it can feel overwhelming because there’s a lot on your shoulders,” she says. “I’m always like, ‘Alright, just do the next step,’ whether that’s getting in the car to go to training, going to the next meeting, or doing the next drill. It’s obviously way easier said than done, but that’s the biggest thing.”
That one-task-at-a-time mentality helps her alleviate unnecessary stress – and ironically, it’s the same strategy that helps her get hyped up again for game time. “This is going to sound so chill, but I’ve had a sports psych for as long as I’ve been professional and working with her, I’ve learned, don’t get too high on your highs or too low on your lows,” Lavelle says. “Every game should feel the same – and even a big game is just another game, so you should be able to bring your best self every game.”
To get to that state, she goes through mental routines before stepping onto the field. “I like to journal, visualize, and meditate when I can,” she says. “Your brain is a muscle, so I train my mind the same way that I train my body.”
Looking ahead to Paris, the soccer players don’t quite have the same experience as other athletes who stay in Olympic Village since the games are usually in different cities around the greater region. “We usually stay at hotels, which I personally enjoy,” she says. “I like having quiet and being more detached in our own little bubble.”
“It’s not a moment, this is the new normal.”
Despite that space, women’s soccer has been making headlines globally, especially for gender equality. “It’s such an exciting time for women’s sports,” Lavelle says, also noting the momentum in women’s basketball. “It’s not a moment, this is the new normal and it’s just going to keep getting bigger and better. We’ve all known the value in women’s sports, but to see everybody else getting on board with the excitement and buzz is really exciting.”
When it comes down to it, Lavelle is most proud of the ability to share her success with her hometown of Cincinnati, as well her college town of Madison, WI, where she attended University of Wisconsin-Madison. “Both those places are such amazing communities full of people who are so passionate about where they’re from,” she says. “It’s really been cool for me to give back to the game in the same way it’s given to me.”
Lavelle remembers watching fellow Cincinnati native Heather Mitts pave the way for her in soccer, and cherishes being in that position now. “I know how huge that was for me to see somebody who is from where I’m from, get to where I want to be,” she says. “To now be that for young girls and boys from where I’m from has such a special place in my heart.”
Now that she’s officially on Team USA for Paris 2024, Lavelle is focused on taking that mindful approach to the international matches. “I’m really just trying to stay very present and take it one day at a time,” she says. “It sounds cheesy, but I’m kind of excited to hone into that and just own my day to day.”
Rachel Chang is a travel and pop culture journalist and a magazine editor (Us Weekly senior editor, J-14 editor in chief, CosmoGIRL! entertainment editor) turned freelance writer. She’s a regular contributor to Condé Nast Traveler and Travel + Leisure, and has written for PS, New York Times for Kids, Wall Street Journal, Lonely Planet, and United’s Hemispheres, among others.
