GAME CHANGERS

Gold imparts life lessons for young adults through accounts of great moments in sports.

The author focuses on the stories of famous athletes of both the past and present in these pages, asserting that the book’s purpose is to help teach adolescents some of the skills and values that will help them succeed as adults. In many chapters, he pairs a relatively recent story with one from the past to present a piece of timeless wisdom. The author touches on a wide range of athletic figures: He describes the likes of champion boxer Muhammad Ali and baseball great Roberto Clemente breaking ground in their respective fields and as social activists. He also discusses the quiet confidence and mastery of basketball star Kawhi Leonard and tennis legend Steffi Graf. At the end of each section, Gold offers broader lessons from the athletes’ stories; in a section about mental toughness, for instance, he describes soccer star Lindsey Horan’s decision to practice “mindfulness” as a way of overcoming anxiety: “Before every game, she centered herself, blocking out distractions and mentally rehearsing her responses to difficult situations on the field.” She would go on to lead Team USA to a World Cup championship. He then describes snowboarder Shaun White’s recovery from a terrible accident in 2017. Gold uses these tales to effectively delve into such concepts as the importance of confronting fear and celebrating small wins as part of a recovery journey. Readers of sports-oriented self-help books aimed at young adults will find much that’s familiar here, but Gold’s storytelling is solid and he offers many great examples. Nevertheless, it would have benefited greatly from the inclusion of photos or illustrations, as many young readers may lack a frame of reference for the times, places, or actions the book describes.

Well-known but often engaging sports stories with self-help elements.