The Heart of the Team: Life Lessons on and Off the Court

by Bill Resler and Casey Mcnerthney

In the acclaimed documentary The Heart of the Game, audiences first came to the attention of the Roosevelt Roughriders, a Seattle varsity girls basketball team, and their charming but unorthodox coach... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1570615187
• ISBN13: 9781570615184
• Release Date: November 2006
• Publisher: Sasquatch Books
• Length: 227 Pages
• Weight: 1.05 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 6.5" x 8.6"

Customer Reviews

Nice on its own, great with the movie

Resler is an unconventional guy, and his book really promotes leadership through fun, risk-taking and rapport. This is a very strong book on its own, but even greater when used with the documentary "The Heart of the Game". For coaches of female athletes, I'd say both are a must (and can be experienced with your staff and your players).

good..very good

This is a continuation of the movie The Heart of the Game. Bill focused on Darnellia Russell in the movie. He uses the book writing opportunity to tell the stories of some other outstanding kids. As a high school basketball coach I am quite impressed with Bill's attitude, vision and his trust of the team. The movie and the book have changed my coaching style (I would like to think for the better). I found it a delightful and inspirational movie and book. So if you loved the movie you will love the book. I did...so I did.

Coach gets to the heart of the matter

It made me cry- it made me laugh.A must-read for coaches and parents alike! Resler is a sincere, self-effacing and very humorous. When he says winning isn't the most important thing, I believe him. He is genuinely interested in the player's development as a person. He is trying to allow them to learn lessons that will carry much further than high school and basketball, and have fun doing it. His coaching style is unorthodox, but you can't argue with the results. His positive attitude,unique philosophy, and unrelenting work-ethic explains his phenomenal success. Yes, Bill, you are an outlier, but great ones never run with the pack-only ahead of it! Read the book and see the movie, too. Go, Roughriders!

Good Life Lessons

A very enjoyable book. My daughter plays basketball and this helped me understand the coaches' role and view point of players. He is very insightful of how to get the most out of his players. Coaches should read this.

It's not just a game, it'd education

I think that this is the best sports book I've ever read. I think the reason is his summation of the book in the Introduction. He says: Really, the game (basketball) alone has no worthwhile purpose whatsoever. But teaching how the game is played can show players that if they work as a group, they can accomplish things despite another group trying to prevent those accomplishments. The book is structured around the stories of individual players. And this is about players in the whole rather than this playing. This is how you take the individual girls and make them into a team, and at the same time you make them into more responsible young adults. It is, of course, just a sport. But more than a sport it's education. And Mr. Resler is a fine, even supurb, example of those around the country that contribute their part.