A Season in the Life of a Winning Basketball Team and the Women Who Made it Happen
Today, the first day of practice, Karen is not pain-free, but she is pretending to be. She is a senior, a three-year veteran of the team, a player the coach is counting on in the starting line-up.
“How do you feel?” Jody, the coach, asks her, laying a hand on her back.
Karen looks up at her from her perch on the exercise bike, her legs pumping hard, and forces a wide grin. “I feel good. I feel fine.”
Kim, the trainer, who has had her eye on Karen all during her warm-up on the bike, walks over from the bleachers. “Okay, Karen? How’s the knee?”
Karen gives her a version of the same smile, slightly frayed. She is tired of being asked. She is tired of being injured. “Yeah. Okay. Fine.”
Jody and Kim exchange a brief look, which Karen doesn’t see. Jody’s look to Kim asks: Is she really okay? Is she going to be able to play? Kim’s look says: Don’t count on it.
Hoop dreams and hard realities. A rag-tag team, a hard-charging new coach, a battle for equal funding and support--this is a no-holds-barred inside story of women’s college basketball.
The Reviews are In…
“Beautifully written and important. This book tells an exciting story very well.”
—Mary Pipher, Reviving Ophelia
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By the end of the book, even male readers may wish that they were on the team themselves.
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Kessler is a great writer with keen insights…The most accurate portrayal of women’s college sports that I’ve ever read. This is how it really is!”
-Donna A. Lopiano, executive director, Women’s Sports Foundation
“Kessler is a master of her craft
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A rich account…This book offers a great lesson in what it takes for women’s athletic programs to get some attention, and it’s a good story well told.
