Raising a Team Player: Teaching Kids Lasting Values on the Field, on the Court and on the Bench (Hardcover)

by Harry Sheehy (Author), Danny Peary (Author), Joe Torre (Author) "During my seventeen years of coaching boys and girls at sports camps and the young men on the varsity basketball team at Williams College, some..." (more)
Key Phrases: Williams College, Coach Tong, Michael Nogelo (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Youth sports have become a pressure cooker of expectations. Parents scream abuse at players, coaches, and referees. Coaches demand that their teams win, at any cost. Kids practice day and night. They face intense pressure to score, to win, to succeed. But is this the measure of success we want to impress upon our children?

In the complex world of today's youth athletic programs, parents face many challenging questions. What is a successful athletic experience? How can you help kids deal with pressure from coaches, players, and other parents? How do you encourage healthy competitiveness and discourage poor sportsmanship? Can you help your child develop a strong work ethic without becoming discouraged at the slow progress? How do you support a child who sits on the bench all year long? What's the best way to encourage your strong-willed all-star to support his teammates? How do you teach a child to accept criticism positively? Most important, how do you help your child absorb real core values from sports? How can you use sports as a vehicle to talk to kids about life's challenges?

In Raising a Team Player, Harry Sheehy answers these questions and more. Offering lessons and wisdom learned from more than seventeen years of working with elementary school children, high schoolers, and college players, Sheehy encourages parents to get involved in their kids' athletic experiences. He offers advice on how to praise, encourage, inspire, build, temper, support, and teach, working with children on everything from setting goals to teaching sportsmanship and humility to building character and a sense of self-worth. With direct, compelling words, Sheehy inspires in parents and coaches an attitude of self-realization, humor, confidence, and enthusiasm for both the successes and mistakes of young athletes.

About the Author
Harry Sheehy, a 1975 graduate of Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts, returned to coach at his alma mater in 1983. He was Head Men's Basketball Coach for 17 years, during which his teams compiled a record of 324-104 (.757), the fourth best winning percentage in the history of Division III men's basketball. He was selected Northeast Coach of the Year (1990, 1997, 1998), Eastern Basketball magazine's Coach of the Year (1998), and Conference Coach of the Year (2000). He now serves as Athletic Director at Williams.

Danny Peary has written many books on sports and cinema. He presently writes for former baseball star and current sports analyst Tim McCarver's TV show, and he has teamed up with McCarver on several books. Peary lives in New York City.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 176 pages
• Publisher: Storey Publishing, LLC (April 15, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1580174477
• ISBN-13: 978-1580174473
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #472,213 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A pleasure to read, April 26, 2002

By	Douglas B. Pickard (East Greenwich, RI United States) - See all my reviews

Harry Sheehy really nails so many critical ideas in this book. The most important for me was the concept that values are taught through sports, just as much as skills. We need to carefully evaluate what we are teaching and how we are teaching it. Both parents and coaches will benefit from reading this book and thinking about the key ideas it contains. It made me think. I especially enjoyed the chapter on enthusiasm, and the parts which talk about teams and the many ways kids need to contribute to make a team successful. The acecdote about the reserve on the basketball team who had such a powerful effect on the practices was inspiring. Good lessons for life.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What "Team" means, May 3, 2002

By	Peter T. Murphy Jr. "Marine g'dad" (West End, NC United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

If you have ever seen a Harry Sheehy team play, and you know anything about basketball, you've seen a prime example of team play. Year in, year out, with a lot of talent or without, his teams get maximum results from their talent. Winning with talent is easy...winning as many games as possible, every year requires great coaching skill.
Harry has brought that same talent to writing. If you have a child or children who like sports, get this book...read it...and read it again until you REALLY understand what Harry is saying...then put his ideas into action...you and your kids will be much better for it.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars excellent and easy to read, April 26, 2002

A Kid's Review

Harry Sheehy wrote an great book, here. It's easy to read, straight to the point, and provides valuable information and ideas for parents of children in sports. A read I would reccomend to many people.