Like many Mexican-Americans, the boys on the Woodburn team faced major problems. They include poverty, a language barrier and immigration issues. Mr. Wilson wondered if those challenges were preventing the team from reaching its goal of winning a state championship. So he decided to follow the team for an entire season. He got to know the players, coaches and supporters.

One of the players he writes about in the book is Martin Maldonado-Cortez. Martin says he and the other boys on the team knew that Woodburn had a bad image. The town has a population of only twenty-two thousand people. But it faces many of the same problems found in large cities. These include gang violence and illegal drugs. He says when the team went to play other schools the people did not act friendly toward them.

Martin says his coaches told him to show pride in his culture. They told him to make an effort to be successful in life -- and not just on the field.

And that’s the VOA Special English Education Report. Our programs are online with transcripts and MP3 files at voaspecialenglish.com. And you can find us on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube at VOA Learning English. I'm Steve Ember.

Contributing: Chris Lehman, Lawan Davis