Phebe Trotman’s soccer résumé reads like a Who’s Who of individual and team accomplishments at the youth, collegiate and professional levels.
The Coquitlam striker won Coastal, provincial and national championships. She scored the winning goal when the Simon Fraser University women won the NAIA title in 2000. She has a W-League championship to her name when she played for the league’s Vancouver Whitecaps and she’s been inducted into three halls of fame, as part of teams in the BC and Burnaby halls and individually in 2021 to the Coquitlam Sports Hall of Fame.
But not all of Trotman’s days in soccer — and life — were good.
It’s how she got through the bad ones and was able to use them to propel herself forward that is the basis of her Never Quit on a Bad Day series of motivational and inspirational books.
The second of the planned four books has just been published as an e-book and is available on Amazon as well as a print edition.
Never Quit on a Bad Day: Inspiring Stories of Resilience is comprised of contributions from athletes and other people in Trotman’s sporting orbit, like Coquitlam NHLer Dante Fabbro, international cricketer Jason Holder and MMA fighter — and former Port Moody resident — Julia Budd.
All of them faced challenges like self doubt, injuries or lack of opportunity and overcame them with grit, determination and a positive mindset.
Trotman said her transformative moment came when she was just 13. Already a top player on her youth side, she tried out for the provincial team in her age group.
After two games in an evaluation tournament, Trotman was cut.
“I was devastated,” Trotman said, adding her father helped dry her tears with some sage advice that would end up charting her sporting future.
“He told me to focus on what I can control and make the most of every opportunity,” she said. “I decided I want to be an impact player. I want to make sure I’m going to be better.”
To achieve that, Trotman started training harder. She worked on her fitness at the gym. She approached every practice and match with a positive attitude.
The shift served Trotman well when she started her career at SFU riding the bench. Instead of sulking, though, she determined, “I was going to change the dynamic of the game” every time the coach sent her onto the pitch. Soon enough, she was a starter.
Trotman said the stories in her latest book reflect the often rocky journey encountered by even the most talented and motivated athletes. The way they navigated that turbulence can be a lesson applicable to every aspect of life.
“Bad days are relative,” Trotman said. “We all go through tough seasons, but we get to choose how we learn from it.”
