Wednesday, August 19, 2009

God's Girls In Sports

I am a book lover. My mom and dad both love to read and they taught me from a very young age the importance of reading. My children could run a library out of their rooms. There is just something about a brand new book.

I recently finished a book that I can't wait to share with all of you. It caught my eye the first time I saw it and I couldn't wait to get out my highlighter and tabs and dig in. The title of the book is GOD'S GIRLS IN SPORTS - Guiding Young Women Through the Benefits and Pitfalls

Being a mom of three girls and a former athlete this book intrigued me. My girls are still young, but I found out this summer, guiding them in athletics starts as soon as they begin to compete. My oldest daughter is 8 and she has already seen coaches and parents at their worst. This book has given me insight that I may never have realized about girls in sports.

God's Girls in Sports was written by former collegiate athlete and coach Holly Page. She currently teaches elementary physical education at a small Christian school in Texas. Her book takes you into all aspects of girls in sports.

Holly focuses on the benefits and costs of interscholastic athletics. She does an excellent job of stating all of her views and guides you as a parent in determining what is best for your daughter.

My favorite area of the book is Holly's ABC's of communicating with coaches. This was so insightful to me and I think every parent with an athlete, boy or girl needs to read this chapter. This book also focuses on coaching girls. My husband and I are involved in coaching our girls as volunteers and this book guides all levels of coaches on how we can coach girls effectively.

There are so many aspects of this book that I will use as my girls grow and develop into athletes. God's Girls in Sports is a book that every parent or coach of girls should read to help our girls have an excellent experience as an athlete.

In one chapter of the book Holly states, "I spend a lot of time in my PE class discussing how to play with integrity, win with humility and lose with dignity." This statement sounds so simple, yet in the world of athletics becomes so much more complex. It is my prayer that if our girls choose to be athletes we can help teach them to play with these characteristics.

I highly recommend this book. It is one that I am positive I will keep going back to for many years to come.

4 comments:

Collette@Jesuslovesmums said...

How great of you to encourage your girls in something like sport. There isn't enough of that nowadays as we all get lazier! I didn't know you had been an athlete, what sports did you compete in? This book sounds like a great read and it is so important to encourage reading in our children.
Love Collette xxx

Sarah said...

I will never forget what Joann V said about my Dad at his 50th birthday party -- that he coached kids not just in sports, but in life. Obviously as Christians it's what we strive to do, but unfortunately coaches don't always fall into that category. The book sounds like a great one that echoes what we were brought up with in our families -- I'll have to check it out. Thanks for the recommendation!

Chele said...

Sounds like a great book Amy! Thanks for the idea! :)

mommy4life said...

I need to read this. My 11 and 8 year old daughters both play and we often have discussions after games about behavior and how it reflects on a person. Thanks for the recommendation!