Chelmsford Native To Publish Book On Women In Athletics

CHELMSFORD, MA — Chelmsford native and former high school teacher Kathleen Ralls is publishing a book on how athletics have inspired female leadership, set to be released in May 2022.

Take Her Word for It: Sports Cultivate World-Class Leaders tells the tales of twelve athletic women from all over the world who have used lessons they learned in sports to become team leaders in their personal and professional lives.

“In 2020, I left my high school teaching position and was thinking about going into higher education, so i had time to think about writing a book about how other adult females who participate in sports use their unique voices to lead,” said Ralls. “These women spoke about the lessons they’ve learned in sports to lead their professional lives. I hope that other women can feel connections with the women who are sharing their stories."

Take Her Word for It will include stories about a U.S. Olympic runner empowering her voice to navigate team dynamics, a prison social worker from Northern Ireland who used her expertise to ensure the safety of an attempted summit on K2, and a global special education leader who harnessed a high school lesson about curiosity to lead a new university program in Dubai.

Another featured woman in Ralls’ book is Chelmsford High School Hall of Fame inductee Maura Duah-Asamoah, who coached Ralls in field hockey, basketball, and softball at CHS in the 1990s.

"In this book, I hope to instill in you the same sort of passion and excitement that I have for women’s leadership,” said Ralls. "Ultimately, I want you to see this book as a tool to help you think about how lessons learned in sport provide opportunities to be the team leader everybody needs.”

Ralls is currently running a presale campaign on Indiegogo where her book can be purchased with a variety of perks, including getting an autographed copy.