The soccer gods stacked the deck against Maddi Desiano.
Two torn ACLs.
A season lost to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Her head coach fired.
It was a physically and emotionally tolling rollercoaster for the UCLA women’s soccer defender.
But Desiano refused to break.
Returning for a fifth year of eligibility in 2022, the super senior from San Clemente wasn’t sure how her knees would hold up following a pair of surgical procedures in the years prior. But the proverbial clouds that had darkened her skies as a Bruin athlete parted just when they needed to.
Three months later, led by a first-year head coach, Desiano and her teammates laced up their cleats as underdogs to take on the University of North Carolina in the NCAA Championship match — an epic game they would go on to win in double overtime, 3-2.
Now a professional player, Desiano recounts her Bruin experience in her new book, Bend Never Break — available via Amazon.
The story, which kicks off with the team in a state of despair following a Bruin loss to UC Irvine in 2021, quickly takes a turn as the women from Westwood bounce back and eventually earn a spot in the 2022 NCAA playoffs.
During that postseason run, three of the Bruins’ matches were decided by a single goal, including two overtime victories.
Providing a behind-the-scenes look at the inner-workings of the program, Desiano digs into major culture change, family values, mental health, team dynamics and a deeper search for purpose.
While recounting UCLA’s improbable run, she also highlights the influence of John Wooden and reveals how the legendary coach’s Pyramid of Success was present in both the team’s triumphs and its struggles.
“We really did have all the blocks,” Desiano says. “And I think the reader will realize that it was the right people coming together at the right time, with the right attitude that made it a championship team.”
Desiano drew inspiration for the book from one of her former TCL instructors, Valorie Kondos Field, who chronicled her own UCLA Athletics journey in Life Is Short, Don’t Wait to Dance. Desiano also weaves in elements of her own coaching philosophy, which she developed as part of her capstone project while earning her master’s degree.
“You see a young person go through a lot of individual adversity and come through it all like a champion on the other side,” Desiano explains. “And I think whether you’re a teacher or a coach, or a business leader, you can give the book to your team and still find lessons in leadership, culture and teamwork and walk away learning a lot.”
“I wrote the book for the starter who’s never been cut, or has never been told they aren’t good enough — who’s won everything in their life. And at the same time it’s also for the person who quit — who was told they sucked and got benched or waived or injured and was forced to medically retire.
“And those are polar opposite feelings, but I think both types of readers can read the book and feel connected to it on a deeper level.”
The book’s title, Bend Never Break, alludes to the Bruins’ unofficial team mantra to be like “bamboo” — a reference to then first-year head coach Margueritte Aozasa’s advice during a tight match early in the 2022 season.
“She was like ‘We might bend, and we might crack a little bit, but we’re not gonna break,’” Desiano recalls. “And from then on, that was our thing — it encapsulated our entire season off the field and our style of play on the field.”
Drafted with the final pick in the 2023 National Women’s Soccer League Draft, Desiano played two seasons for the Houston Dash before taking her talents to Europe as a defender for Denmark’s Women’s League club Odense Boldklub. A high school All-American and former South Coast League MVP, Desiano has been a member of multiple U.S. Youth National Teams. She played all 110 minutes of UCLA’s 2022 NCAA Championship game and helped lead the Bruins to 14 shutouts and a team goals against average of just 0.55. In addition to her Master’s degree from the School of Education and Information Studies, Desiano holds a Bachelor’s degree from UCLA in Political Science and Government.
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