Synopses & Reviews
After eight books, many of them bestsellers, A Game Plan for Life was the one closest to John Wooden's heart: a moving and inspirational guide to the power of mentorship. The first half focuses on the people who helped foster the values that carried Wooden through an incredibly successful and famously principled career, including his father, his college coach, his wife, Mahatma Gandhi, and Mother Teresa. The second half is built around interviews with some of the many people he mentored over the years, including Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Bill Walton. Their testimony takes readers inside the lessons Wooden taught to generations of players, bringing out the very best in them not just as athletes but as human beings. In all, this is an inspiring primer on how to achieve success without sacrificing principles and how to build one of the most productive and rewarding relationships available to any athlete, businessperson, teacher, or parent-that of mentor and protégé.
Praise for A Game Plan for Life:
"My time learning from Coach Wooden-sitting and asking him questions, soaking up his answers-has provided some of the most significant lessons in my life. Any way that you can be mentored by a giant like him, including reading A Game Plan for Life, will provide great lessons for you, too."-Pat Summitt, women's basketball coach, University of Tennessee
"Few coaches have affected their players' lives so fully as John Wooden, so here's a natural question: Who mentored the mentor? Well, John Wooden is glad we asked."-Bob Costas
Review
“This primer on the power of mentoring reveals much - both about the lessons that Wooden felt he learned and those he strove to teach.”—Christian Science Monitor“Few coaches have affected their players lives so fully as John Wooden, so heres a natural question: Who mentored the mentor? Well, John Wooden is glad we asked …” —Bob Costas
“There is no coach or former coach in the U.S.A. more admired by his peers than John Wooden. When someone asks me who is the best athletic coach ever, my vote is John Wooden. A Game Plan for Life speaks loudly about the importance of learning and teaching for a lifetime. Coach Woodens message is one reason I keep coaching!” —Bobby Bowden, former football coach, Florida State University
“My time learning from Coach Wooden—sitting and asking him questions, soaking up his answers—has provided some of the most significant lessons in my life. Any way that you can be mentored by a giant like him, including reading A Game Plan for Life, will provide great lessons for you, too.”—Pat Summitt, basketball coach, Tennessee Lady Vols
Synopsis
From the legendary basketball coach who inspired generations of athletes and businesspeople, an inspiring book about the power of mentoring and being mentored.
After eight books, many of them bestsellers, A Game Plan for Life was the one closest to John Wooden's heart: a moving and inspirational guide to the power of mentorship. The first half focuses on the people who helped foster the values that carried Wooden through an incredibly successful and famously principled career, including his father, his college coach, his wife, Mahatma Gandhi, and Mother Teresa. The second half is built around interviews with some of the many people he mentored over the years, including Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Bill Walton. Their testimony takes readers inside the lessons Wooden taught to generations of players, bringing out the very best in them not just as athletes but as human beings.
In all, this is an inspiring primer on how to achieve success without sacrificing principles and how to build one of the most productive and rewarding relationships available to any athlete, businessperson, teacher, or parent-that of mentor and prot g .
About the Author
John Wooden is the most successful coach in NCAA history, having led the UCLA Bruins to 665 victories and ten championships in the years leading up to 1975. Since his retirement, he has become a mentor to dozens of athletes, journalists, and writers, and the author of eight books.
Don Yaeger is the author or coauthor of sixteen books, including Never Die Easy, with Walter Payton, and Running for My Life, with Warrick Dunn.