Games Girls Play: Understanding and Guiding Young Female Athletes

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."

Drawing examples from case studies, the approach is highly practical and each chapter has bulleted strategies, checklists, summaries, and quick pointed questions (What if the coach plays favorites? Should I watch practice? How can I help her balance school and sports?) Yet the most probing questions are directed to parents, asking, for example: Can you accept that your daughter will disappoint you? Can you settle for personal improvement rather than winning? Other insightful chapters focus on a variety of subjects including coaching the coach, bad sport parents, and coping with crunch times, as well as the darker side of female sports---eating disorders, harassment, and steroid use. Each chapter offers rich resources for guiding a young woman to strengthen her body and mind and to transfer the lessons of sports to the rest of her life. --Barbara Mackoff