Northern Lights: One Woman, Two Teams, and the Football Field That Changed Their Lives

Written by Cathy Parker and David L. Thomas

Narrated by Nan Gurley

Life is hard in Barrow, Alaska. Football mom Cathy Parker first caught a glimpse of this far-away reality from the comfort of her Jacksonville, Florida, living room while watching a 2006 ESPN report on the Barrow Whalers, a high school football team consisting mostly of Alaskan Inupiat Eskimo natives playing in the most difficult of conditions and trying to overcome the most unlikely of odds. These players—raised in the northernmost town in the United States, where drug abuse is rampant and the high school dropout rate is high—found themselves playing on a gravel field, using flour to draw the lines. And while the community of Barrow felt a strong pride for their boys, many felt football was not worth the investment. That is, until Cathy Parker became involved.

Overcome by a surprising stirring in her soul to reach out and help, Cathy was determined to build a suitable field for the Barrow Whalers. Not fully understanding the many obstacles, both financially and logistically, that would line the path ahead, Cathy charged forward with a determined spirit and a heart for both the football team and the greater community of Barrow. She spearheaded a campaign that raised more than half-a-million dollars through people all around the country rallying around one common goal: changing the lives of young men through football.

This is not just the story of how the Barrow Whalers became the first high school above the Arctic Circle to have a football program. This is the story of how we are sometimes called to the most unlikely of causes and to believe in something a little bit bigger, changing our own lives and the lives of others for the better in the most unexpected of ways.

Follow along on the journey with photos available in the audiobook companion PDF download.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Thomas Nelson
• Release date: Jun 25, 2019
• ISBN: 9780785223825

Cathy Parker

Cathy Parker and her husband, Carl, have raised four children, all at the ballfields. Cathy has experienced the extreme highs and lows of raising athletes and can relate to the toll athletics can have on the family. She founded the not-for-profits Athletes to Champions and Beyond the Ballfield to help athletes and their families deal with the realities of sports and use their influence for good.

Reviews for Northern Lights

[castlelass · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

Non-fiction memoir from a woman living in Florida that led a project to raise money to build a football field of artificial turf for a team in Utqiagvik (formerly Barrow), Alaska. This book’s blurb does not make it clear that the author adheres to a conservative Christian theology, and a good amount of narrative is dedicated to describing her family’s religious beliefs. I was expecting a story about sports, not religion, and it made me uncomfortable. I would have quit before finishing, but I received an advance reader’s copy from the publisher via NetGalley in return for a candid review, so I persevered. I applaud the author for spearheading a project to benefit others but feel the description should inform the reader that the book includes a great deal of religious content. I enjoyed the information about the Iñupiat’s culture and wish the book had focused more on their customs and traditions.