FEARLESS FIRSTS

Profiles of more than 50 teams and athletes who broke barriers or beat the odds to succeed.

While readers in search of role models will find familiar ones here—from Jim Thorpe and Jackie Robinson to Simone Biles—it’s the lower-profile entries that set this book apart. Along with athletes who broke color or gender barriers to play professional hockey, basketball, and numerous other sports, the authors salute several Paralympians, as well as Kim Ng, the first female general manager in Major League Baseball; Jim Eisenreich, the first known MLB player to have had Tourette syndrome; transgender NCAA swimmer Lia Thomas; autism advocate and professional surfer Clay Marzo; and Justin Peck, a motorsports racer who’s been open about his bipolar disorder. Title IX also wins a full entry of its own, and the Haudenosaunee lacrosse teams, barred from international competition from the 19th century to 1990 and again as recently as 2020 (ironically, considering the sport’s Native American origins), are one of several teams to earn commendation for persistence. “The world of sports,” the authors write, “more than ever before, has room in the lineup for everyone!” Specific biographical information in the alphabetically arranged entries tends to be thin, but both these profiles and Walthall’s portraits of muscular, smiling figures exuding confidence offer inspiration galore.

A plentiful gallery of role models, well beyond the usual suspects.