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  Sailing for Kids

  Tim Davison, Steve Kibble

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  Sailing for Kids is aimed at children aged 8-15 who are taking their first steps into the fantastic world of sailing. Packed full of colour photographs and diagrams, this straightforward and easy-to-understand guide is the perfect introduction to the sport. It is based on the Optimist dinghy, which is the most popular children's sailing dinghy worldwide, and endorsed by the UK Optimist Class Association. Topics covered include what to wear, setting up the boat, sailing and safety. For those who want to go further, there are also tips on sailing faster and preparing to race.

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  Jackie Robinson and Moses...

  Charles River Editors

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  In his introduction to The Jackie Robinson Reader, sports historian Jules Tygiel succinctly observed, “Extraordinary lives often reveal ordinary truths. Jackie Robinson was born in 1919 and died in 1972. He crammed into these brief fifty-three years a legacy of accomplishment, acclaim, controversy, and influence matched by few Americans. He was, even before his historic baseball breakthrough, an athlete of legendary proportions. He won fame and adulation as the first African-American to play in the major leagues in the twentieth century, launching an athletic revolution that transformed American sports. He garnered baseball's highest honors: Rookie of the Year, Most Valuable Player, and first-ballot election to the Hall of Fame. More significantly, Robinson became a symbol of racial integration and a prominent leader in the civil rights struggle of the 1950s and 1960s. Yet Jackie Robinson's half century among us illuminates not just the contours of an exceptional life, but much about the broader African-American experience of those years.” 
  	Given his legacy, many Americans today believe Jackie Robinson was the first black man to play in Major League Baseball, but that answer is wrong. As far back as the late 19th century, there had been professional baseball leagues that were every bit as segregated as any other aspect of society, but before that, there were, for a brief shining moment, there were teams of black and white men playing with and against each other.  
  One of the first black men to play on such a team was Moses Fleetwood Walker, and he was the first who openly identified as black. As racism and segregation successfully pushed black players out of professional baseball, it was all but forgotten that professional baseball had once been integrated before Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier, ensuring that the contributions of Walker and other early black athletes would be obscured and then eclipsed. 

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  When Friday Comes - Football...

  James Montague

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  'Passionate and moving and provides further evidence of the universality of football' Jonathan Wilson, FourFourTwoThe definitive story of the Middle East's unstoppable rise to football superpower, and the road to the Qatar World CupWhen James Montague first began covering football in the Middle East two decades ago, people asked him what future there could possibly be for the beautiful game in one of the most volatile regions in the world. In the years that followed, it would become one of the biggest stories in global sport, from the from revolutionary ultras of the Arab Spring and the takeover of some of the world's biggest clubs by the Emirati super rich, to Qatar's controversial journey towards hosting the 2022 World Cup finals.The only Western journalist covering the story on the ground from the very beginning, James Montague tells the definitive tale of the region's rise to ultimate power player in the global game in a fully revised and updated edition. Travelling to every country in the Middle East and meeting fans, players, workers and campaigners, he paints an unforgettable picture of football in a controversial, vibrant and surprising new world.

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  The End of the Perfect 10 - The...

  Dvora Meyers

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  A “delightful and insightful” (The Wall Street Journal) account of the controversial world of gymnastics and its scoring system, which has propelled powerful and athletic American gymnasts to the top of the sport.It was the team finals of women’s gymnastics in the 2012 London Olympics and McKayla Maroney was on top of her game. The sixteen-year-old US gymnast was performing arguably the best vault of all time, launching herself unimaginably high into the air and sticking a flawless landing. But when her score came, many were baffled: 16.233. Three tenths of a point in deductions stood between her and a perfect score. But if that vault wasn’t perfection, what was?For years, gymnastics was scored on a 10.0 scale. During this era, more than 100 “perfect” scores were awarded in major international competitions. But when the 10.0 scoring system caused major judging controversies at the 2004 Olympics, international elite gymnastics made the switch to the open-ended scoring system it uses today, which values both difficulty and technical execution, making perfect scores a thing of the past—and forever altering the sport in the process.With insight, flair, and boundless love for the sport, gymnastics insider Dvora Meyers answers questions that fans have been asking since the last perfect score was handed out over twenty years ago. She reveals why successful female gymnasts like 2016 Olympics All Around medalists Simone Biles and Aly Raisman are older and more athletic than they have ever been before, how the United States became the gymnastics powerhouse it is today, and what the future of gymnastics may hold.Bolstered by dozens of exclusive interviews with professionals representing every aspect of the sport, The End of the Perfect 10 is “the Simone Biles of gymnastics books” (Slate), a captivating look at elite gymnastics’ entry into the uncharted world of imperfection—and how it has created stronger athletes than ever before.

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  The Big Scrum - How Teddy...

  John J. Miller

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  “The story . . . has as much vigor and passion as Roosevelt himself. It’s a fascinating and thoroughly American tale.” —Candice Millard, New York Times–bestselling author 
   
  John J. Miller delivers the intriguing, never-before-told story of how Theodore Roosevelt saved American Football—a game that would become the nation’s most popular sport. Miller’s sweeping, novelistic retelling captures the violent, nearly lawless days of late 19th century football and the public outcry that would have ended the great game but for a crucial Presidential intervention. Teddy Roosevelt’s championing of football led to the creation of the NCAA, the innovation of the forward pass, a vital collaboration between Walter Camp, Charles W. Eliot, John Heisman and others, and, ultimately, the creation of a new American pastime. Perfect for readers of Douglas Brinkley’s Wilderness Warrior, Michael Lewis’s The Blind Side, and Conn and Hal Iggulden’s The Dangerous Book for Boys, Miller’s The Big Scrum reclaims from the shadows of obscurity a remarkable story of one defining moment in our nation’s history. 
   
   “The first complete account of Roosevelt’s football rescue . . . a great story.” —The Wall Street Journal 
   
  “Fascinating . . . At a time when a coalition of suburban soccer moms and misguided caretakers of American athletics are hell-bent on watering down the game of football, you should take the time to read this book.” —Sal Paolantonio, ESPN 
   
   
   
  “A richly detailed history of football’s founding . . . a useful primer, introducing us to some of the sport’s most famous pioneers.” —The New York Times 
   
  “Enjoyable history of a seldom explored turning point in American sports history.” —Booklist

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  Instant golf 2 - Advanced Tips...

  Infinite Ideas

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  This handy little guide is written for the amateur golfer who wants to get better. In other words it’s written for every amateur golfer in the world. It offers a range of tips and techniques (some common sense, some quirky) but all designed to make you re-evaluate your mental and physical game. There are things you can try out while on the course, on the practice greens or in the privacy of your own home. We can’t promise we’ll halve your handicap but we can promise you that these tips will help you think about your game in a different way and with practice you will become a better player.

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