Sports Athletes

Ken "The Snake" Stabler was the embodiment of the original Men in Black - the freewheeling, hard-hitting Oakland Raiders. The league's first swashbuckling pass thrower, the mythical southpaw Southerner famous for come-from-behind drives late in the game, Stabler led the Raiders to their first Super Bowl championship in 1977.

Confident, Calm and Clutch is the ultimate mental strength and confidence book for boys and girls that will revolutionize your young athlete's mindset and transform their performance on and off the field. Are you ready for a winning edge? Ask yourself: What if you could equip your mental youth athlete with the tools to conquer nerves and perform under pressure like a pro?

Imagine yourself in the heat of competition, adrenaline pumping through your veins, and the roar of the crowd urging you on. Will you rise to the occasion, unyielding and determined, or succumb to doubt and pressure? Now envision a different scenario. You're in that same intense moment, but this time you embrace the challenge with confidence. You seize the opportunity, push past limits, and achieve greatness.

Why couldn't Michael Jordan, master athlete that he was, hit a baseball? Why can't modern robotics come close to replicating the dexterity of a five-year-old? Why do good quarterbacks always seem to know where their receivers are?In this deeply researched book, sports and business reporter Zach Schonbrun explores what actually drives human movement and its spectacular potential. The groundbreaking work of two neuroscientists in Major League Baseball is only the beginning.

In the high-pressure world of sports, female athletes often face a unique set of challenges. The expectations to be tough, competitive & to win, can conflict with the expectations to be feminine, flexible, and to conform to idealized body standards can be overwhelming. These pressures can impact performance, self-esteem, and well-being.

Now in his sixties, big-wave surfer Joe Sharkey has passed his prime and is losing his “stoke.” The younger surfers around the breaks on the north shore of Oahu still idolize the Shark, but his sponsors are looking elsewhere. One night, while driving home from a bar after one too many, Joe accidentally kills a stranger near Waimea, a tragedy that sends his life out of control. As the repercussions of the accident spiral ever wider, Joe's devoted girlfriend, Olive, throws herself into uncovering the dead man’s identity and helping Joe find vitality and refuge in the waves again.

Heroes aren’t just the ones who bring home medals. Hero Redefined delves into the lesser-known stories of Olympic athletes—and a couple of special Olympic venues—that challenge the conventional narrative of glory and gold. In riveting personal profiles exploring herculean feats of strength, perseverance, and sportsmanship, award-winning sports journalist Doug Levy offers a new vision of heroism.

The Athlete’s Ascent shows how you can harness the wisdom of martial and Zen arts to develop the profound connection between mind, body and breathing that leads to the coveted flow state. Drawing on a lifetime of deep practice, Jayne Storey has streamlined centuries-old disciplines – including Tai Chi and Zazen meditation – into a simple, proven and trusted Performance Practice that helps both amateur and professional athletes ascend to higher levels of enjoyment and performance.

The moving true story of a group of young men growing up on Chicago's West side who form the first all-Black high school rowing team in the nation, and in doing so not only transform a sport, but their lives.

Russell Wilson is a standout NFL quarterback. Learn about his childhood and his rise to becoming a football superstar.

Mike Trout is a standout MLB outfielder. Learn about his childhood and his rise to becoming a baseball superstar.

Aaron Rodgers is a standout NFL quarterback. Learn about his childhood and his rise to becoming a football superstar.

Stephen Curry is a standout NBA point guard. Learn about his childhood and his rise to becoming a basketball superstar.

Famous three-time Grand Slam winner Arthur Ashe pointed out that many in sports fall victim to “paralysis by analysis”. Athletes on any level can experience the pain of overthinking and sabotaging their performance. Blame many traditional methods of teaching and training. How can we train smarter, not harder? If only our body and mind could perform in a way that’s more natural and instinctive. The best athletes have this quality, but many feel it is simply unattainable for them. I assure you it is not.

It’s not simply that Dot Wilkinson was one of the most decorated women’s softball players, bowlers, and athletes of all time and one of the original players from the three-time-world-champion PBSW Phoenix Ramblers softball team (1933–1965). Nor was it the length of her time here on Earth—over a century—although any of these things by itself would be impressive. The magic of Dot’s story is in the details. Out at the Plate is the story of a forgotten era in women’s history and sports, and one extraordinary woman’s place at the center of it all.

Behind the scenes, female athletes are suffering from disordered eating and substance use; depression and anxiety; emotional and sexual abuse; racism and discrimination; self-harm, and even suicide ideation. When global tennis star Naomi Osaka and gymnastics world champion Simone Biles took breaks from competing to tend to their mental health, many were compelled to ask: What is causing this mental health crisis in women’s sports? In The Price She Pays, Katie Steele and Dr. Tiffany Brown illuminate where we are going wrong—and how we can correct course.

Exclusive interviews with the top athletes in sports today. Trust the Grind: How World-Class Athletes Got to the Top reveals how these men and women reached the heights of their profession so that you can too. Each chapter tells a different story, as each superstar shares the habit that helped them accomplish their goals and reach the pinnacle of their profession.

Looking for the perfect gift to inspire that young athlete in your life? Do you want them to learn the power of perseverance, mental toughness, triumph, and greatness through fun and engaging stories based on real-life sports legends?

Mental training is just as important as physical training when it comes to success in sport. Like physical fitness, mental toughness is something that can be taught and learned. Bring Your "A" Game introduces key strategies for mental training, such as goal-setting, pre-performance routines, confidence building, and imagery. Each of the 17 chapters focuses on a single mental skill and offers key points and exercises designed to reinforce the concepts.

From Jackie Robinson to Muhammad Ali and Arthur Ashe, African American athletes have been at the center of modern culture, their on-the-field heroics admired and stratospheric earnings envied. But for all their money, fame, and achievement, says former New York Times columnist William C. Rhoden, Black athletes still find themselves on the periphery of true power in the multibillion-dollar industry their talent built. Provocative and controversial, Rhoden's Forty Million Dollar Slaves weaves a compelling narrative of Black athletes in the United States.