Review of "Basketball (or something like it)," by Nora Raleigh Baskin

 Review of

Basketball (or something like it), by Nora Raleigh Baskin, ISBN 0060596104

Five out of five stars

Sad reality of youth sports

 While this book is about a youth basketball traveling team and there is a big game at the end with a dramatic moment to determine the outcome, that is not the point of this book. The real focus of the plot is the role of the parents in the selection and management of the team. They are generally spiteful, annoying, demanding, and at times threatening. There are several coaches, some of which know how to play team sports while others simply want to blame others for their lack of understanding how basketball is played.

 There are many primary characters, the most among the equals is Jeremy, a recent transfer to North Bridge in the suburbs from the inner city. It is obvious to all that he is the best player during the tryouts and an outstanding point guard. However, there is another point guard with the proper parental connections, so Jeremy is relegated to the bench for demonstrating on the court that he is the better player. At the end, Jeremy is able to enter the big game through the sacrifices of his friend and everything turns out as it should be.

 I have served as a volunteer coach of youth sports for something like fifteen seasons. Boys and girls soccer, boys and mixed basketball, tee ball and softball. The descriptions of parents in this book is accurate and perhaps a bit understated. When I started coaching AYSO soccer, the teams were placed on opposite sides of the field with the parents behind their respective teams. Two years later, the rules were changed so that both teams were on one side and the parents were on the other. My last season, there was a training session where the topic was how to handle the situation if you were physically assaulted by a parent. The fact that this book accurately depicts how parents often act does not change that it is truly a sad way to perform in front of children.

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