Steve Wolfe, fresh out of college, comes to the little town of Homer, Alaska and begins his wrestling coach career. Homer, Alaska is at the end of the road. Coach soon finds that Alaska is full of unbelievable characters--kids and adults alike--students, teachers, and neighbors. Coach's interactions with these characters make for nonstop humor and inspiration. Call Me Coach is a story of rare experiences of struggle, failure, but ultimately triumph. Alaskans and wrestlers have a common spirit--the spirit of adventure and overcoming all adversity. Call Me Coach is a humorous story of motivation and the spirit of Alaska and wrestling.

All coaches share one common trait: they love what they do and are passionate about how they do it. Yet despite this shared common trait, it still can be challenging to identify what qualities make up a successful coach. When studying acclaimed coaches with different personalities, there is no question that each has grown to identify and then rely on a unique mix of skills to lead, teach, and build a winning team. So how do new or struggling coaches learn to stand apart from their peers in everything they do? Glenn Myers, who grew up in Northeast Ohio surrounded by high school sports, combines his experiences in teaching, coaching, school psychology, law, and community leadership to provide a comprehensive guide for success in coaching team sports. With a straightforward style, he gets inside the game to pull out the building blocks of successful coaching and provide the psychological and emotional components necessary to create a safe, positive team sport experience for new and novice players as well as for those who willingly accept the challenge to be called coach. Call Me Coach guides team sport coaches to find a personal style that leads to success and encourages a rewarding, life-changing experience for every player

From former football star and bestselling author John Ed Bradley comes a searing look at love, life, and football in the face of racial adversity. "Heartbreaking," says Laurie Halse Anderson, author of Speak. Growing up in Louisiana in the late 1960s, Tater Henry has experienced a lot of prejudice. His town is slow to desegregate and slower still to leave behind deep-seated prejudice. Despite the town's sensibilities, Rodney Boulett and his twin sister Angie befriend Tater, and as their friendship grows stronger, Tater and Rodney become an unstoppable force on the football field. That is, until Rodney sees Tater and Angie growing closer, too, and Rodney's world is turned upside down. Teammates, best friends--Rodney's world is threatened by a hate he did not know was inside of him. As the town learns to accept notions like a black quarterback, some changes may be too difficult to accept. "John Ed Bradley skillfully shines a beam of humanity through the prism of the game, revealing to us the full spectrum of its colors, from love to hate, bigotry to tolerance, and devotion to betrayal. Anyone who ever played high school football or loved someone who has should read this book." --Tim Green, retired NFL player and bestselling author

This is the story of Sensei Reese Rigby's journey into Isshin-ryu karate-do from beginner white belt to ninth-degree black belt grandmaster, starting with his school of fourteen students in 1973 and growing to approximately three hundred karate students and an additional one hundred combined cardio kickboxing and tai chi students in 2012. In writing this book, Sensei Rigby wanted to share his story with his students, family, and others who are interested in a martial arts journey. This book is a tribute to his Isshin-ryu instructors, Grandmaster Angi Uezu and Grandmaster Tom Lewis, and his tai chi instructor, Sifu Diane Cannon.

When Jack "Goose" Givens first walked onto the basketball court at Lexington's Douglass Park for the legendary Dirt Bowl league, it was the beginning of one of the most illustrious sports careers in Kentucky history. After being named 1974's Mr. Basketball for the state of Kentucky as a high school senior, Givens signed with the University of Kentucky and went on to amass a string of achievements that place him among the all-time greats in NCAA college basketball—most notably leading UK to the 1978 NCAA Men's National Championship with his 41-point performance against the Duke Blue Devils in that historic game—and being named the Final Four Most Outstanding Player for that year. They Call Me Goose: My Life in Kentucky Basketball and Beyond is an intimate and all-encompassing look at the life and career of the basketball legend, from growing up in a housing project in Lexington, his success with UK men's basketball through his years with NBA's Atlanta Hawks and the Japan Basketball Association, his career as a college and NBA television color analyst, to his recent appointment as a commentator for the UK Sports Network. Givens shares personal and endearing stories from his childhood—how he was initially interested in baseball instead of basketball, the summers spent with his grandmother in Danville, Kentucky, and the teachers and coaches who guided and supported him along his journey. He also speaks candidly about his experiences with poverty, ruinous financial debt, the blowback from sexual assault allegations, and how his faith and his family helped sustain him through hardships and challenges. In collaboration with journalist Doug Brunk, Givens presents fans with the powerful story of a husband, father, mentor, businessman, and ambassador for Kentucky—who also just happens to be an iconic sports legend.

An intimate, humorous look at Brian Kilrea's 60-year career in junior hockey With more wins than any coach in junior hockey history, and a personality as large as his winning record, Brian Kilrea is more than a hockey legend, he's one of the most beloved figures in the game. With veteran sportswriter, James Duthie, Kilrea gives fans a rink-side view of his twenty-nine plus seasons as head coach and now general manager of the Ottawa 67s. With stories and comments from famous NHLers who played for Killer, readers will get a taste of Kilrea's hardnosed coaching style, the gritty often humorous reality of his life as a coach, riding on buses and in the locker room, as well as the knowledge and dedication that has made him last so long. They Call Me Killer sheds light on Kilrea's early life as a centre for the Red Wings, what it was like to score the first-ever goal in the history of the L.A. Kings, and his two years with the New York Islanders. Loaded with anecdotes from a true hockey insider, the book offers fans an unvarnished look at the world of junior hockey—as it's played and lived, including its brutal practices, broken curfews, trades, and tirades. Details Kilrea's role as a coach for the Ottawa 67s, how they won the Memorial Cup twice, and how he's been a mentor to young stars of the future Includes anecdotes and interviews from coaches, trainers, and general managers, and NHLers like Bryan Trottier, Dennis Potvin, Mike Peca, Gary Roberts, Doug Wilson, Brian Campbell, Darren Pang, and many others Brian Kilrea was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2003 James Duthie is best known for his work on TSN's The NHL on TSN and his coverage of the World Junior Championships With a Foreword by lifelong friend, Don Cherry, They Call Me Killer is a fascinating, unforgettable look at the world of junior hockey and the man known as the most successful coach in junior hockey history.

One of the core courses that I teach is Management 101. Introduction to business. The discipline of Management has evolved over time and the current trend in Corporate America is how does an organization morph from Management into Coaching. Society has become sensitive, and if you were to ask me, too sensitive, where the emotional wellbeing of the employee has been thrust to center stage. Corporate America has realized that you are not just an employee anymore, you are a resource, hence the change from “Personnel” to “Human Resource Management”. If we are going to view the employee more as a resource and less as a disposable component of an organization. Hence, the need for coaching. The need for the metamorphosis and paradigm shift away from management towards coaching is front and center. A goal of this book is to identify the foundations of management, the backbone of my management lectures every day in my management classes, and infuse the wisdom of the greatest coaches in the history of team sports. This book chronicles the foundations, concepts and theories of management and sprinkles in the quotes from coaches whether they were famous or not and explain how that quote relates to the management theories identified in the book.

The "other Coach K" talks about impressionable life lessons that developed his coaching imprint on student-athletes from the elementary to the collegiate level. Coach Pat Kanalley shares his experiences from 37 years of coaching tennis, basketball, baseball and other sports in Western New York. A must read for all beginner coaches as well as the experienced on how to be ethical and moral amongst corruption of amateur athletic competition.

In his most brilliant and powerful novel, Pat Conroy tells the story of Tom Wingo, his twin sister, Savannah, and the dark and violent past of the family into which they were born. Set in New York City and the lowcountry of South Carolina, the novel opens when Tom, a high school football coach whose marriage and career are crumbling, flies from South Carolina to New York after learning of his twin sister's suicide attempt. Savannah is one of the most gifted poets of her generation, and both the cadenced beauty of her art and the jumbled cries of her illness are clues to the too-long-hidden story of her wounded family. In the paneled offices and luxurious restaurants of New York City, Tom and Susan Lowenstein, Savannah's psychiatrist, unravel a history of violence, abandonment, commitment, and love. And Tom realizes that trying to save his sister is perhaps his last chance to save himself. With passion and a rare gift of language, the author moves from present to past, tracing the amazing history of the Wingos from World War II through the final days of the war in Vietnam and into the 1980s, drawing a rich range of characters: the lovable, crazy Mr. Fruit, who for decades has wordlessly directed traffic at the same intersection in the southern town of Colleton; Reese Newbury, the ruthless, patrician land speculator who threatens the Wingos' only secure worldly possession, Melrose Island; Herbert Woodruff, Susan Lowenstein's husband, a world-famous violinist; Tolitha Wingo, Savannah's mentor and eccentric grandmother, the first real feminist in the Wingo family. Pat Conroy reveals the lives of his characters with surpassing depth and power, capturing the vanishing beauty of the South Carolina lowcountry and a lost way of life. His lyric gifts, abundant good humor, and compelling storytelling are well known to readers of The Great Santini and The Lords of Discipline. The Prince of Tides continues that tradition yet displays a new, mature voice of Pat Conroy, signaling this work as his greatest accomplishment.

Sport needs more female coaches. What better way to develop women who are enthusiastic, prepared, and professional in filling those important roles than to learn from female coaching legends? She Can Coach! is both an invaluable guide for current female coaches and a recruiting tool for the next generation of female mentors. Unlike any book before it, this collection speaks directly on the topics that determine success in coaching by using the words and experiences of 20 of the most successful female coaches in 13 different sports: Beth Anders, Old Dominion University, field hockey Terry Crawford, Cal Poly University, track and field/cross country Diane Davey, Plano (Texas) High School, soccer Lele Forood, Stanford University, tennis Nell Fortner, Indiana Fever (former coach), WNBA Dorothy Gaters, Marshall High School (Chicago), basketball and cross country JoAnne Graf, Florida State University, softball Jan Harville, University of Washington (former coach), rowing Kim Kincer, Methodist College (former coach), golf Marcia McDermott, Carolina Courage (former coach), WUSA Sarah Patterson, University of Alabama, gymnastics Mary Jo Peppler, Coast Volleyball Club, volleyball Sharon Pfluger, College of New Jersey, lacrosse and field hockey Joan Powell, Coronado (Colorado) High School, volleyball Lorene Ramsey, Illinois Central College (former coach), basketball Amy Ruley, North Dakota State University, basketball Jill Sterkel, University of Texas, swimming Pat Summitt, University of Tennessee, basketball Mary Wise, University of Florida, volleyball Margie Wright, Fresno State University, softball Each chapter addresses a key factor in guiding athletes and teams to the top and keeping a program at the championship level. From establishing a professional and personal foundation to developing team management and organizational skills, She Can Coach! covers every essential component necessary for success as a coach. Leading an athlete or team in any sport at any level can be a rewarding role. Apply the wisdom and lessons from these accomplished women to be a better coach, today and tomorrow.