The Positive Coach's Book Shelf



Check out these great books on positive coaching and related books by members of the PCA advisory committee.

The Double Goal Coach - Jim Thompson

Living, Leading and the American Dream - John Gardner

Positive Coaching: Building Character and Self-Esteem Through Sports - Jim Thompson

Shooting in the Dark: Tales of Coaching and Leadership - Jim Thompson

Game On: The All-American Race to Make Champions of Our Children - Tom Farrey

Sacred Hoops: Spiritual Lessons of a Hardwood Warrior - Phil Jackson and Hugh Delehanty

101 Ways to Be a Terrific Sports Parent - Joel Fish

The Sweet Season: A Sportswriter Rediscovers Football, Family, and a Bit of Faith. - Austin Murphy

My Losing Season - Pat Conroy

Real Boys: Rescuing Our Sons from the Myths of Boyhood - William Pollack

Feeding the Young Athlete: Sports Nutrition Made Easy for Players and Parents - Cynthia Lair

Catch Them Being Good: Everything You Need to Know to Successfully Coach Girls - Tony Dicicco, Colleen Hacker and Charles Salzberg

Raising a Team Player: Teaching Kids Lasting Values on the Field, on the Court and on the Bench - Harry Sheehy, Danny Peary and Joe Torre

Teacher: The One Who Made The Difference - Mark Edmundson

The Baffled Parent's Guide to Coaching Youth Soccer - Bobby Clark

The Last Days of Summer - Steve Kluger

A Coach's Life: My Forty Years in College Basketball - Dean Smith

On Leadership - John Gardner

Self-Renewal - John Gardner

Leading Minds: An Anatomy of Leadership - Howard Gardner

Self-Efficacy: The Exercise of Control - Albert Bandura

Greater Expectations: Overcoming the Culture of Indulgence in Our Homes and Schools - William Damon

Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies - Jerry Porras, James Collins

Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience - Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

Flow in Sports - Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, Susan Jackson

Character Development and Physical Activity - Brenda Bredemeier and David Shields

Values of the Game - Bill Bradley

They Call Me Coach - John Wooden

Wooden: A Lifetime of Observations and Reflections On and Off the Court - John Wooden

Building a Champion - Bill Walsh

A Sense of Where You Are - John McPhee

Mastery: The Keys to Success and Long-Term Fulfillment - George Leonard

The Ultimate Athlete - George Leonard

Smashing Barriers - Richard Lapchick

In These Girls, Hope Is a Muscle - Madeleine Blais

Way to Go, Coach: A Scientifically-Proven Approach to Coaching Effectiveness - Ronald Smith, Frank Small

Friday Night Lights: A Town, A Team, and a Dream - H. G. Bissinger

When Pride Still Mattered - David Maraniss

Why Johnny Hates Sports - Fred Engh

Raising Winners: A Parent's Guide to Helping Kids Succeed On and Off the Playing Field - Shari Kuchenbecker

Season of Life - Jeffrey Marx

Creative Coaching Jerry Lynch

We Own This Game - Robert Andrew Powell

Reforming Sports Before the Clock Runs Out -Bruce B. Svare

Play Baseball the Ripken Way - Cal Ripken, Jr., and Bill Ripken


If you buy these books through this website, PCA will receive a percentage of the sales price (at no increased cost to you).


Do you know of a book that should be on PCA's bookshelf? Tell us the name and author and why you think it belongs. We'll check it out: contact us.