Kansas author Tim Bascom launched his seventh book, “The Boundless Game,” last month through University Press of Kansas. These “soccer stories from across the street to around the world” span Bascom’s 50+ years of soccer playing, illuminating the sport’s cultural history and its international spirit. 

Tim and I met over Zoom, as he’s currently on a national book tour and was in Bradford, Pennsylvania, at the time of this interview. The following has been edited for length and clarity. 

Linzi Garcia: First, what is it that you want people to know about you and about this book overall?

Tim Bascom: For starters, it was a lot of fun to write. That's not always the case. I can sometimes write and feel very workmanlike and keep digging the trench. With this one, it spilled out of me. I think it's because I really do love soccer that much. I began by writing about it, not as a book, but because I was trying to return to journaling. I was handwriting it for myself. I said, “I'm just going to write about something that I enjoy a lot.” Then I wrote a little bit more, and I wrote a little bit more, and I couldn't stop. 

LG: I noticed you had some of the book chapters published previously, the oldest one going back to 2011. Has this journaling process been off and on throughout the years?

TB: The piece that was the oldest one in the whole collection is an anomaly. I wrote it a long time ago, on a whim. It was actually in the city magazine for Des Moines, as I recall. When I got going on this, I thought, “Wait a minute, have I done anything with soccer before? I 
looked back and realized, I can include that, for sure. It was nice because it fit as a closing chapter for the whole book. It's weird how sometimes beginnings and endings circle each other like that.

LG: Do you think you'll keep writing about soccer? 

TB: Not much. I just had a piece published in the Kansas City Star that's an opinion piece. It's more of a political statement. The World Cup's coming. I'm ambivalent in certain ways, and that's because we are such a disturbed nation currently. And the rest of the world is watching and very upset. 
I have friends in Norway, in Germany, in Canada, who are frightened and upset, watching from a distance what's happening here in the U.S. and with our global aggression. 

I found it supremely ironic and hypocritical that Donald Trump was given the initial FIFA World Peace Prize. That seemed like a very cynical thing. There are nations that have talked about boycotting the whole World Cup. There are fans who have decided they won't travel here. I wrote about that, starting with this peace prize that was given. So, it's about soccer, but it's not about soccer. 

And that's the thing about the whole book: It's about soccer, but it's not about soccer. The very core of the book is that (soccer) has been a way for me to cross over culturally. That has been an honor and a delight, and I'm very thankful for that. With that in mind, I'm upset by how people of other cultures have been treated of late by some here in the U.S. and (I) want to point out the positives of being with people who are from other cultures.

LG: You're bringing people together through this book because of that cross-cultural experience. This is a book rooted in places, but it's also a book about people. What you hope to achieve with American readers is clear, but what do you hope your international readers learn about Americans?

TB: I think that somebody from another country who would pick it up would appreciate how diverse things might be in a nation that has been looking pretty nationalistic. Out there on the field at Kansas State University or KU when I'm playing with guys, they're from everywhere. We're having a lot of fun out there getting to know each other because of soccer, whether it's Song from Korea or Oscar from El Salvador or Hugo from Costa Rica. These are guys that I really am thankful to have time with. That's happening not only in the United States, but it's happening in the heartland of the United States, in a state that some people would say, “Oh, it's Kansas, look for Dorothy and Oz,” but not realize that there are a lot of folks coming from elsewhere, crossing over into our culture, and making it richer as a result. I would hope that somebody reading (my book) outside the U.S. would find that encouraging and interesting. 

LG: How is soccer reflective, or not, of the well-being of a community? Are communities happier and healthier because of soccer?

TB: I have a chapter in the book about visiting this city in northern Ethiopia, Bahir Dar, and I go to a professional soccer game with tens of thousands of fans. At the same moment, there's an assassination occurring across the city from us, and it turns into a national crisis. Another assassination occurs in retaliation, and everything gets shut down. We have a hard time getting out of the city and back to Addis. In that piece, I end with children out on a playground, below where we're staying in a hotel, and they're kicking a scuffed-up plastic soccer ball on concrete. Some of them are barefoot or in sandals, making goals out of piles of rocks, and they're having a great time. This is in the middle of this national crisis — children are playing soccer and having a great time. 


That means that the game, in a way, is helping us to go forward in life. I'm preaching to myself, because I'm having a hard time right now with the state of affairs here. We have to pay attention and respond to such difficulties, but we also have to keep living. 
Soccer is a healthy outlet, whether it’s children or amateurs in a league or professional. 

There are whole books about politics and soccer, some of which point out that soccer can be used as a kind of pacifier by governments because it's a distraction. There's some truth to that. On the flip side, being in the stadium as a fan, under difficult circumstances, is a healthy and good thing that we all need. So figuring that out is a balance.

LG: You're talking to somebody who is not a soccer player or particularly a soccer fan, so I am curious about your thoughts on why sports fandom and those experiences are so important? Why does being in a stadium or in a neighborhood and cheering on a soccer team feel so good? 

TB: For those who do enjoy watching a sport, there is something very compelling about seeing people trying to do their very best physically. I get pleasure out of that. Especially at the World Cup, I enjoy that it’s national teams. It's not club teams, like in the Premier League, that pay astronomical amounts — I think too much — to create a team that can win everything. If it's been purchased, I'm not impressed. But when a national team forms, it's the best players they can find from their nation. For me, it’s fun to see those players out there trying to do their very best.

LG: Beyond sports, most of us want to see people trying their best at things. I think that's why we like to watch other things like “Jeopardy” or “American Idol” or baking competitions.

TB: Yeah, exactly. You see somebody you would never expect get up there and start singing, and you're like, “Wow, that person can sing.”

I am not a great player. My point is I'm the amateur saying that soccer is really important for a lot of us. We absolutely love this game. We're not the best players, but we're benefiting from it. We're out there, and we're trying to play as well as we can. And we have our minor triumphs and failures. And I want to celebrate all of those people more than anything. 


When you're talking about the health of a society, I would say the more people are out there, the better. It doesn't have to be soccer— it could be basketball, kayaking, or something else — but people need to do something.

LG: Do you think that this book has a place in the hearts of non-soccer lovers? 

TB: Well, what do you think? 


LG: I think it does. Personally, I have a greater respect for soccer and sports overall. I have a better understanding of the importance of soccer on a more global level. I had that general understanding, but seeing it from the perspective of a typical Kansan who has had these experiences brings it home. 

TB: That would be my hope. I think soccer players are going to be the main group that would reach for it, but I would hope that it's addressing a wider audience than that. 


I'll be doing a book talk at the Johnson County Public Library in a month or two with a sociologist or anthropologist, and that is exciting to me, because that's really more what I think the book's about, and I hope people will come in part because they're anticipating that kind of conversation. 

LG: Interestingly, not only is this book a collection of personal essays, but you've got history and research in there, too. How did you decide on the genre-bending structure of this book? 

TB: I just like learning, and I wanted to understand some more things about the game itself. 
It began with me trying to learn things like: How did it begin? Who first played this game? I started realizing it could be interesting to do these little research sidebars. 

The more I looked into it, the more I thought, “Well, are there certain things that are cross-cultural that would be interesting?” For instance, writing about the Homeless World Cup, which happens every year and has happened for over 20 years. Over 60 nations select the set to represent their nation, and they come and play. 

There's another cross-cultural dimension that you wouldn't expect: Even a homeless person can play soccer. You just need a patch of bare earth, a street, anywhere you want and a ball. If you’ve got that, and a couple other people, you’re off and running.

The Details

“The Boundless Game” by Tim Bascom

168 pages, published by the University Press of Kansas in February 2026.

Learn more about "The Boundless Game" from the University Press of Kansas and Bascom's website.

Tim Bascom, who spent half his childhood in East Africa, has served as director of the Kansas Book Festival and, before that, as director of creative writing at Waldorf University, Iowa. His other books include "Continental Drift" (Main Street Rag, 2025), "Climbing Lessons" (Light Messages Press, 2020), "Running to the Fire" (University of Iowa Press, 2015), and "Chameleon Days" (Houghton Mifflin, 2006). His writing has been chosen for the Bakeless Literary Prize in Nonfiction, recognized as a finalist for the IndieFab Memoir of the Year, awarded editor’s prizes at The Missouri Review and Florida Review, and selected for the anthologies "Best American Travel Writing" and "Best Creative Nonfiction."  He lives in Topeka, Kansas. You can find more about Bascom, his events, and his books at timbascom.com. 

Linzi Garcia is a journalist, editor, teacher, and international poet. She resides in Emporia, Kansas, where she works for Meadowlark Press and House of Morrow. Linzi is a recipient of a NextGen Under 30 Kansas Award and Kansas Governor’s Arts Award.

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