Books That Help Explain Sports

You're a fan and maybe a parent and want to know more about sports. What literary avenue should you pursue?

"The Politics of Coaching" by Carl Pierson

The late Dr. Pierson wrote a magnificent book for coaches and sports parents. He explains how politics is inevitable and often damaging for high school sports programs.

I've seen it remotely as a local (not Melrose) politician tried to take down a coach who cut his son. And I've seen upperclass parents (not volleyball) try to undermine underclassmen who threatened their children's status and playing time. Pierson's book should be mandatory reading.  

"Game Changer" by Dr. Fergus Connolly

Connolly, a Human Performance specialist, discusses his experiences with great coaches around the world and lays out the tetrad of skill, strategy, physicality, and psychology in fashioning elite athletes. 

"Legacy" by James Kerr

Kerr profiles the world's most dominant sports team - the New Zealand All-Blacks rugby program. Their culture focuses not only on sport, but individual growth, and incorporates elements from the Maori. 

"Good for a Girl, A Woman Running in a Man's World" by Lauren Fleshman

Sports and athletes do not arrive in a "one size fits all" mold. Some coaches and other adults remain trapped in Neanderthal perspective. 

"Search Inside Yourself" by Chade-Meng Tan

SIY is a book about the science and practical applications of mindfulness in promoting high performance. I read it three times. Mindfulness improves attention, grades, behavior, sleep, blood pressure and mental health. And it's free, apolitical, and non-religious. So you're not stepping on anyone's toes. 

The saying goes, "The journey is better than the inn." Neither children nor sports programs come with instruction manuals. Melrose parents tend to be sophisticated about the processes, yet all of us can benefit from understanding more about the pathways and pitfalls ahead.  

Lagniappe. AI input re: "Good for a Girl" 

Here are twelve key points from Good for a Girl: A Woman Running in a Man's World (2023) that would resonate well with a coaching-and-leadership-focused sports blog audience — especially one covering a girls' program like the Lady Raiders:

1. Sports were built around male bodies and male development timelines. Fleshman argues that athletic training norms and practices were shaped by male physiology, and that this systemic bias creates unsafe and unsustainable conditions for female athletes — a core thesis coaches of girls' teams should sit with. 
2. Puberty is treated as a threat instead of a normal part of development. Fleshman recalls that as puberty hit, boys pulled ahead in speed while girls, including herself, began feeling self-conscious about their changing bodies — a formative moment she returns to throughout the book. 
3. Early success can set girls up for a painful reckoning. As a kid, Fleshman easily outran her peers in gym-class mile runs and found running freeing and empowering, with her father telling her she could do anything — but that confidence collided with the realities of adolescence. booksthatslay
4. Chasing an "ideal" competition weight can lead to disordered patterns. In pursuit of a perceived ideal racing weight, Fleshman engaged in harmful dieting practices — a cautionary thread for any coach managing body-image pressure on a team. 
5. Speaking up carries real career risk for female athletes. Fleshman describes how female athletes who speak out against unfair treatment often face professional consequences, which discourages others from advocating for change. 
6. Sponsors' marketing doesn't match how they treat athletes. She points out the contradiction between Nike's marketing of motherhood as a picture of strength and how the company actually treated athlete-mothers — a case study in the gap between brand image and institutional support. 
7. Menstrual health belongs in athletic development, not on the sidelines. The book calls for establishing real menstrual health protocols within sports programs, treating the topic as a performance and safety issue rather than something to avoid discussing. 
8. Representation in coaching and leadership matters. Fleshman advocates for increasing female representation in coaching and leadership roles as a structural fix, not just a symbolic one. 
9. It's part memoir, part manifesto. The book blends Fleshman's personal story of falling in love with running, being pushed to her physical limits, and enduring serious injuries with a broader argument for reforming how sports treat female athletes.
10. Her advocacy extends beyond the page. Fleshman co-founded Oiselle, a feminist running apparel brand, and Picky Bars, a sports nutrition company — showing her push for change has been entrepreneurial as well as literary.
11. It's resonating widely, not just with elite athletes. The book has become required reading for coaches in multiple programs and helped spark concrete reform conversations in women's sports, earning the William Hill Sports Book of the Year award.
12. The audience is broader than runners. Fleshman intends the book for female athletes, coaches, parents, and anyone invested in gender equity in sports or body-image issues — with coaches in particular gaining insight into adapting training for female physiology, and athletes finding validation in shared experiences of burnout and injury.