Recommended Reading
Books and articles recommended by ATSC coaches
These are books and articles recommended by ATSC coaches. Unless otherwise noted, book descriptions are from Amazon.com.  (Buying these books by clicking these links to Amazon.com helps support ATSC.)
 
  • Coaching Tips from NSCAA

  • Books recommended by Jerry Ellison, Coach of the Arlington Pride ('91G), who said, "Clearly 3 of the 4 are geared towards coaching girls, but all are must reads for anyone who wants to coach females."
    • "Catch Them Being Good: Everything You Need to Know to Successfully Coach Girls" by Tony Dicicco, paperback (Penguin 2003)  "This guide to coaching female athletes of all ages shows how to build a team and provides invaluable advice on the differences between coaching males and females. The authors include exercises that foster teamwork and develop essential skills. They also answer parents' most common questions, such as how to tell if the coach is doing a good job and what to do if a child wants to quit. Filled with stories about the Olympic and World Cup championship teams, this useful handbook is infused throughout with DiCicco's philosophy that at every level playing soccer (or any sport) is about 'playing hard, playing fair, playing to win, and having fun.'"
    • "Games Girls Play," by Caroline Silby and Shelley Smith, paperback (Griffin 2001)  "For the 2 million parents of girls who play intramural sports, the comment, 'you play like a girl,' is considered a compliment. Games Girls Play, written by sports psychologist and former figure skater Caroline Silby with ESPN reporter Shelley Smith, moves beyond the widely reported benefits of sports for young women--offering both parents and coaches a fresh, smart guide for responding to the needs of the young female athlete. Whether they are writing about choosing a sport, building confidence, staying calm during a competition, or debriefing after the game, the authors have created a powerful primer on the inner work of sports psychology. As they explain, 'teaching athletes to use their thoughts, perceptions, images and body language, focus and effort to move ahead are the life lessons of sports.'" 
    • "The Vision of a Champion: Advice and Inspiration from the World's Most Successful Women's Soccer Coach," by Anson Dorrance, hardcover (Ann Arbor Press 2002)  "Legendary soccer coach Anson Dorrance has coached 17 of the last 21 NCAA women's championship soccer teams. Enough said. 'The Vision of a Champion' is just that, as Dorrance distills his vision in this mandatory guide for young athletes and coaches who want to inspire and train them."
    • "The Winner Within: A Life Plan for Team Players," by Pat Riley, paperback (Berkley 1994)  "A game plan for team players in every arena of life--business, family, sports--uses examples from the life of the great basketball coach to show how any group can combine strengths and talents and be successful. Reprint"


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