Soar
56 pages • 1-hour read
Joan BauerSoar
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Background
Social Context: The Pressure of Youth Sports and Competing Coaching Philosophies
Joan Bauer’s Soar critiques the intense pressures within contemporary youth sports, where a “win-at-all-costs” mentality can eclipse player well-being and ethical conduct. This hyper-competitive environment is a real-world phenomenon, often stemming from a fear that kids will fall behind their peers, and so they begin to specialize in one sport at an early age. One of the drawbacks of early sport specialization is an “increased risk of overuse injuries in the short term as well as risk of severe injuries over an athlete’s career, and higher rates of burnout and early retirement” (Guettler, Joseph H, and Alexandria Chrumka. “Early Sport Specialization: Sports Medicine News.” American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine, 2024). In Soar, Bo Engers succumbs to a career-ending injury before even entering high school. Furthermore, pressure from parents, coaches, and the community to be elite can lead to even more damaging consequences. Hillcrest, Ohio, embodies this culture, defining itself by its high school baseball team’s success. The town’s welcome sign perfectly captures this ideology: “TO THOSE WHO SAY IT ISN’T IF YOU WIN OR LOSE, WE SAY IT MATTERS” (31). This singular focus on victory creates a community that becomes “addicted to winning” (187). The novel explores how this addiction fosters an environment where ethical compromises are framed as necessary for success, setting the stage for the community-wide scandal that drives the plot.
The novel grounds this social pressure in competing coaching philosophies. The destructive approach is embodied by Coach Perkins, who tells his players to “leave your doubts at the door” (61) and whose obsession with victory leads him to provide his team with performance-enhancing drugs. His philosophy and actions result in the death of star pitcher Hargie Cantwell and the suspension of the team. In contrast, the novel presents a healthier, character-focused model of mentorship through El Grande and Jeremiah. Their approach prioritizes fundamentals, resilience, and love for the game over scoreboard results. By juxtaposing these ideologies, Bauer examines the central purpose of youth sports, arguing that true victory lies not in championships but in building integrity and fostering a genuine passion for the game.
Medical Context: Pediatric Heart Conditions and Transplantation
Jeremiah Lopper’s experience with heart disease provides a medically grounded context for his character and motivations. His condition, cardiomyopathy, is a disease of the heart muscle that makes it difficult for the heart to pump blood and can cause sudden cardiac arrest and heart failure in young people (“Vital Facts.” Childrens Cardiomyopathy Foundation, 2026). In the novel, Jeremiah explains that his condition began when he “caught a virus that slowly began attacking [his] heart muscle” (14), reflecting one cause of the disease. The narrative accurately portrays the reality of waiting for a donor organ, a process that for Jeremiah lasted “eleven months and seventeen days” (33). This experience shapes his perspective, giving him an appreciation for life and an acute awareness of his own physical limitations. His identity as a transplant recipient is not just a backstory but the central force defining his journey.
Life after a pediatric heart transplant, as depicted in the novel, involves significant, lifelong challenges. Transplant recipients require immunosuppressant medications to prevent organ rejection, which increases their vulnerability to infection. Additionally, they must undergo periodic biopsies to ensure that the body does not reject the heart (“Organ Rejection After Heart Transplant.” Stanford Medicine Health Care, 2017). These realities are woven into Jeremiah’s daily routines, from his constant use of antiseptic lotion to his fear of germs in a classroom and his inability to eat at salad bars. In addition to undergoing biopsies, Jeremiah’s physical activity is also restricted; though he yearns to play baseball, he knows he “still can’t run” (18). This medical limitation is what channels his passion for the sport into coaching. His physical fragility is contrasted with his mental and emotional strength, or what he calls his inner “eagle” (5). This medical context is crucial for understanding Jeremiah’s resilience, his unique vision, and his determination to contribute to the game that he can no longer play but will never abandon.
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