Book Review: The Matheny Manifesto

My son is a travel baseball player. He loves baseball more than just about anything. A few years ago I bumped into the letter that Mike Matheny wrote to the youth baseball team the he was about to begin coaching. I loved every bit of it.

When I saw that the letter had been developed into a book I knew I had to get my hands on it. Matheny writes in a winsome and clear style. He tells fantastic stories about his life and career.

The book is broken up into three parts. The first part is “The Problem”. In this section Matheny breaks down the issues that he sees with youth travel sports. The second part is “A Better Way”. In this section we read about what good parenting and good coaching can look like. Here, Matheny lays out his vision for a healthy sports experience. The third part is “The Keys to Success”. In the final section of the book Matheny describes his own Wooden-esque pyramid for success.

There are few books, especially Christian books, that I get excited about sharing with friends. This text will be passed along to every baseball coach my son plays for. Everything in the book is right on the money. In particular, I like Matheny’s “Keys to Success”:

1. Leadership – submitting to coaches and trusting your leaders.


2. Confidence – coaches building confidence in players and letting them become leaders.


3. Teamwork – the necessary humility required to “think of yourself less”.


4. Faith – this is critical, you must learn to stand for you believe in.


5. Class – respect the game and everyone involved.


6. Character – the need to know who you are and what your responsibility to the team is.


7. Toughness – fighting through the difficulties to accomplish your goal.


8. Humility – you need one another, teamwork means helping each other.

In conclusion, I highly recommend this book. In my opinion it is a must read for every coach and parent that is involved in youth sports.

I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review.

The post Book Review: The Matheny Manifesto appeared first on The Journal by Daniel M. Rose. It was written by Daniel M. Rose.

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