I'm writing a book about the impact that high school coaches have on their students and communities. Can you help me find the right people to profile? Here's all you need to know to help me out.
What’s the book?
Few would question that teachers are the most important people in a young person’s development. A close second, however, are high school coaches. In fact, nearly half of all students who attend high school will play on a sport team and have their character molded by these people.[i]
Unlike collegiate and professional coaches who can make millions, most high school coaches earn modest stipends – if they receive anything at all – for the hours they commit to these young people. As a volunteer high school football coach myself, and the father of a former high school athlete (and now a United States Marine), I’ve seen first-hand the outsized influence that coaches have on young lives.
Even years after their playing days are done, athletes still remember the valuable lessons their coaches taught them. What these coaches teach students about self-discipline, character, the importance of team, managing the vicissitudes of day-to-day life are lessons that apply to everyone.
My book is tentatively titled 30 Days with America’s Coaches, and will include 30 essays of individual coaches, their most-famous words, and the stories behind them as well as the lessons they transmit.
Who Has Been Interviewed So Far?
We're off to a good start, both in terms of numbers of coaches interviewed and in the backgrounds they represent. Here is a partial list:
Al Fracassa: Former head football coach at Brother Rice High SChool in Bloomfield Township, Michigan, and a past winner of the NFL High School Coach of the Year Award
Stacey Swinnea: Head softball coach at Davidson Academy in Nashville, Tennessee. TSSAA’s Distinguished Service Award for 2019-2020
Barry Wortman: Head basketball coach at Blackman High School in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. 500-game winner
George Stackhouse: Head basketball coach at Westover High School in Fayetteville, North Carolina. AP Press All-state Coach of the Year.
Clarence Lewis: Formerly head track and field coach at JL Mann High School in Greenville, South Carolina
Fouad Zaba: Head football coach at Fordson High School in Dearborn, Michigan
How Can I Help?
If you know a coach: Pretty simple. Tell me about the coaches you’ve had, or the coaches you know, who have greatly influenced your life or your community. Offer an introduction, and help me land the stories that will shape this book.
I am looking for coaches across the spectrum. From the high-profile sports like football and basketball, to those that rarely draw attention – field hockey and golf. I am looking for men and women, people of all ages and races and backgrounds, and people who are from cities and suburbs, as well as exurbs and rural communities.
I am looking for coaches who have a proven track record of success with student-athletes.
What type of success?
· Success on the field against all odds – they work in high-poverty schools, or schools with radically diverse student bodies, or schools that have overcome tragedy.
· Success in keeping student-athletes in school
· Success in strengthening their communities
· Success in moving students to successful lives after high school
· Success in dealing with tragedy
· Success in building strong character
· Success in breaking barriers
· Success in ways that I’ve yet to even consider
If you are a coach: I’d like to interview you and learn about your career. In particular, I’m looking for those special moments that define the impact that coaches have on student-athletes (see the sample story at the end of this document).
Is This Project Legitimate?
The book will be one in a series from Front Edge Publishing. The 30 Days With idea was conceived by Editor-in-Chief David Crumm, a long-time senior writer for the Detroit Free-Press and winner of multiple awards for excellence in journalism.
The first book in the series, 30 Days with Abraham Lincoln, has proven highly popular, earning extensive press coverage in publications like the Christian Science Monitor.
Questions about the series or this particular book proposal can be directed to my editor, David Crumm. His email is David.Crumm@gmail.com. You can learn more about David and his publishing house at https://frontedgepublishing.com/.
Why Should I Trust the Author?
Martin Davis is a former academic (B.A. Univ. of North Carolina at Greensboro, M.A. Univ. of Chicago, Doctoral Studies Univ. of South Carolina) and long-time journalist based in Washington, D.C. Martin has written for National Journal, Philanthropy, National Review, and U.S. News & World Report among others. His cover story on the economic revitalization of Atlanta’s East Lake community was the cover story in PGA Tour magazine. He has also contributed pieces to The Washington Post, New York Daily News, and numerous other national and local newspapers.
For the past two years, Martin has written a monthly column for ReadtheSpirit.com, an online publication produced weekly by David Crumm. His articles explore the lives of people who consider themselves spiritual, but have largely abandoned traditional religious organizations. His pieces have explored the complicated relationship between fathers and sons, the role of sports in our society, and the mysteries and beauty of birdwatching. He has also experimented in new ways to build nationwide conversations that go beyond any one article.
For example, he co-authored with David Crumm a look at important memes that have moved people through the ages. That piece inspired many readers to provide their own examples, and David Crumm is using this to build an ongoing national discussion about the power of simple expressions to carry us through our daily lives.
If you want to speak with Martin or learn more about him, just write. You can reach me at mdavisfreelance@gmail.com, or call me directly at 540-498-5994.
[i] According to the NCAA, there are more than 7 million students participating in high school sports. (http://www.ncaa.org/about/resources/research/probability-competing-beyond-high-school). The number of total high school students, according to Statistica, is more than 16 million (https://www.statista.com/statistics/183996/us-high-school-enrollment-in-public-and-private-institutions/).