Thirteen Women Strong

Thirteen Women Strong was the 2009 Book Connection Book for the fall freshmen class at Northern Kentucky University. Focused on the Northern Kentucky University Women's Basketball team, and copyrighted in 2008, the book was published in the United States by University Press of Kentucky. It was written by Robert K. Wallace, a long tenured, prestigious professor at Northern Kentucky University.
Plot
This book revolves around and their 2006-2007 season. In this book, Dr. Wallace reveals the internal and external struggles that these young ladies had to face as student athletes. This book delivers the success and hardships endured by young women on a journey towards more than just a national championship. Most would think this book is only about basketball, but this story conveys how Nancy Winstel facilitated the growth of players into professional women. She shows her players how basketball can not only teach you how to set goals but to achieve them, both on and off the court. These players balanced class, winning and losing games, injuries, their personal lives, Coach Winstel's attitude as well as opposing teams. The previous year they were knocked out of the playoffs by a team they knew they could beat, and decided a stand had to be made. This book is about their stand to win.
Themes
Thirteen Women Strong is a book of many themes. This includes overcoming trials and tribulations on an athletic level, as well developing as students and as people. These women took charge of their own destiny and worked towards their childhood dreams. As a team, they bonded into a family unit as well as bonding with their actual families through basketball. Coach Nancy Winstel focused on motivating the players not only as a team, but allowing them to channel their self-motivation.
Summary:
In 1974, Nancy Winstel joined the women's college basketball team at Northern Kentucky University as a walk-on. She had little basketball experience, never having played on a high school team—her high school didn't even have girls' basketball. Despite her inexperience, Winstel served NKU as a talented student athlete, but her legacy didn't end there. Appointed head coach at NKU in 1983, she gained a reputation as one of the most successful coaches in women's college basketball history with more than 500 wins. Winstel garnered these victories in an athletic landscape vastly different from the one she knew as an NKU undergraduate. Many of the student-athletes on her twenty-first-century squads have been playing organized basketball for most of their lives. In a post—title IX America, more women than ever are involved in team sports and their teams attract a large following of enthusiasts. NKU professor Robert K. Wallace, one of many passionate fans of the Norse, has brought his appreciation for the team's players and their accomplishments to Thirteen Women Strong: The Making of a Team. Chronicling the 2006-07 season of twelve remarkable student-athletes and their legendary coach, Wallace was granted unprecedented access to the team. Sitting in on closed meetings and practice sessions, he follows the players through grueling training drills, intensely close games, exhilarating wins, and anguished losses. During the 2005-06 season, a squad of NKU women with no seniors achieved unanticipated success, earning a 27-5 record that led to a Great Lakes Valley Conference championship. The entire team returned the following season to expectations of even greater success, but their 2006-07 season was plagued by injuries and other major obstacles. After a string of tough losses, the women mounted a comeback to earn a 21-8 record and reach the NCAA Division II Tournament once again. The team's story is one of loss, triumph, and personal growth. Thirteen Women Strong profiles each member of the team, including the coach. Wallace provides keen insight into the emotional and physical demands of high-level competition. Exploring the impact of Title IX legislation on women's collegiate sports with the critical eye of a scholar and the love of a fan, Wallace documents the story of how thirteen women faced high expectations and difficult trials to come together as a team, their growth culminating in the 2007-08 national championship. Thirteen Women Strong is a fascinating study of this dynamic group of female student-athletes and their renowned leader
User Review - Inside Your Town
"Thirteen Women Strong is a fascinating study of a dynamic set of student athletes and their legendary leader. Wallace goes beyond wins and losses to write a tale about the enduring themes of strength, leadership, and teamwork."

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