Teaching Character Through Sport: Developing a Positive Coaching Legacy

You've read, digested and implemented Jim Thompson's Positive Coaching materials. Now take a Graduate Course. Bruce Brown's book is filled with wonderful ideas on how to create a sports culture where individuals and teams maximize the personal growth that is possible through athletics. Personal favorites include sections on the qualities of "Great Athletes" - successfully introduced to players as young as 11 (and, more importantly their parents) - about the choices that athleted make. Similarly "Great Teams" explores the qualities found in the most successful teams. "Positive Conditioning" is an eye-opener (imaging what happens when the winning team in a game at practice does 20 extra push-ups) as well as great team-building exercises such as "Spotlighting". The section on how parents can be helpful participants in the process is also worthwhile. Run, don't walk (can you do that on-line?) to get this book.

Easily worth the money, this book is amazing. It poses great questions to coaches about why they coach and what they hope to accomplish, methods to teach character traits, and a wonderful section on using conditioning positively, to name a few sections. The book is geared primarily towards junior high or high school programs, and really has some great ideas for a sports program.

This book is essential for every coach in any sport. Bruce Brown does an excellent job of hitting on the issues of what coaches need to think about, but so often get missed in the whole scheme of things. Coaching is so much more than just knowing the particular x's and o's, and reading this book helps the present or future coach realize that. I would recommend Teaching Character Through Sport to any coach of any sport!!