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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