Venus to the Hoop: A Gold Medal Year in Women's Basketball

Venus to the Hoop is a motivation to every kind of athlete. If you have ever played basketball you may be able to understand the situations these women athletes were put in. The detailed descriptions of the players and their coaches and staff allows you to understand the atmosphere they had to play basketball in. If you want to read a good book and also get some posative thinking out of it, read Venus to the Hoop. This book has really helped me keep a positive attitude about sports, teammates and life. I loved the way the competitors from the past pulled together and played as one on the same team. The way they helped eachother out in games and off the court helped me realize that they loved playing basketball. Keeping a positive attitude is important to me, and this book made me look at my life more positively.

Sara Corbett, who wrote this book, had the opportunity of traveling with the winning U.S. Women's Basketball Olympic team from their early tryouts in April 1995 to their glorious gold medal in Atlanta in 1996. She was there when they for the very beginnings and the selection process; she was there for their rigorous training under their coach, Tara Vanderveer; she was there during meals and long boring flights.Through a series of in-depth interviews, as well as 14 months of personalobservation, she has written the book that defines the major milestone in women's basketball gaining the public's awareness and acceptance. Each of the 12 women on the team as well as their coach are skillfully profiled, and their stories credit, Ms. Corbett, kept the focus on the game. She lets the player's hopes and dreams and divergent personalities emerge through the sport. Of course we get their backgrounds too. We see Sheryl Swoops and her adoring husband, we see the explosive personality of Dawn Staley who likes to make side wagers on everything; we see Rebecca Lobo having trouble keeping up with the training; and Lisa Leslie's love for dressing up. But most of all, we see them play basketball.In 1995, there wasn't even a basketball league for women. But during the time of their training for the Olympics, the possibility of two different leagues emerged -- the WNBA and the ABL. This was the major source of conflict between the members on the team during the course of the year. They had to put their disagreements aside though, and play basketball.And that they did. They played and played and played, wining every single one of the games they played during that year. The women's college teams were easy, but they struggled with the team from China and the team from Australia. They constantly traveled, and the fatigue and frustrations of a life on the road was clearly examined.Now, just a few years after the Olympics we take the WNBA for granted. American women now have an arena to play basketball professionally after college without going to Europe to play. The experiences playing for the European teams were usually unhappy. They were alone in foreign countries with a cultural barrier between themselves and their teammates. They were treated poorly, and sometimes punched and sexually intimated by their male coaches. It was never a pleasant experience.The women were proud to be on the Olympic team, but the pressure never let up. Each game was a different kind of challenge. I loved the descriptions of the games, and even though I knew the final outcome of each game, found my heart beating during the play by play action. The game became more than just an unidentified player running around the court. It was Sheryl and Teresa and Katrina and Dawn. It was Rebecca and Jennifer and Lisa and Carla. I followed the action. And I was right there on the court with them.One of the greatest things about this book, too, was how much it stirred me to learn more.

My two daughters are junior high basketball players, and I picked up this book on a whim at a bookstore recently. I was gripped from page one and couldn't put it down after that. I can't tell you how many times I wanted to CALL Sara while I was reading this and tell her, "This is a great book!" But I trust other people have done that. You really get a sense of what being on that team was like, and I enjoyed this book immensely. It's on my list of all-time favorite sports books.

This book has become one of my favorites. Telling the story of the 12 women who made up the 1996 gold medal team, Corbett went in-depth which each player. The book created a personal veiw of what the team went through. From a 30 year old vetren, to a 20 year old not yet graduated, you are able to get a real sense of each player!

This book was really something special. Quite a story of the team, the players, their hopes, their fears, their conflicts, everything! An intimate look at the team that showed the world what women's basketball was really all about. But also a really insightful look at the players and their motivations - who they were and why they were driven. Lots of fun and truly inspiring!