NFL
By: Zachary Draves
At a time when books are being banned in schools and libraries, author and Vanderbilt University Sport in Society director Andrew Maraniss isn’t having it.
The writer of books on Perry Wallace, Glenn Burke, the 1936 US Men’s Olympic Basketball team, and the 1976 US Women’s Olympic Basketball team is coming out with a new book series entitled Beyond the Game: Athletes Changed the World published by Penguin Random House.
The series is aimed at elementary students that showcase prominent athletes who not only succeed in their respective sport but who had a profound social impact. The first two books will launch on the same date (March 5th) and they are on Maya Moore and LeBron James.
(Courtesy: Deandra Hodge)
(Courtesy: Deandra Hodge)
Both are legends on the hardwood, but Maraniss wanted to highlight their contributions to society off the court.
After a long-standing career that included two NCAA titles with UCONN in 2009/2010, two Olympic gold medals (2012/2016), and four WNBA titles (2011, 2013, 2015, 2017), Moore took the unprecedented step to walk away from the game in 2019 at the height of her career to become an advocate for criminal justice reform.
(Courtesy: Tim Clayton/Corbis/Getty Images)
Prior to that, she had been outspoken in her support for Black Lives Matter in 2016 after the police killings of Philando Castile and Alton Sterling.
(Courtesy: David Sherman/Getty Images)
Her efforts included securing the release of Jonathan Irons, who was serving a 50-year prison sentence for a nonfatal shooting even though there was no physical evidence linking him to the crime.
Irons was released in 2020 and shortly after that he and Moore announced that they were married.
James’ career includes being the NBA’s all-time leading scorer, a two-time Olympic gold medalist (2012/2016), and four NBA titles (2012, 2013, 2016, and 2020). In addition, his advocacy off the court on issues of education, Black Lives Matter, and voting rights speaks volumes.
(Courtesy: Getty Images)
In 2018, he opened his I Promise School in his hometown of Akron, Ohio to provide kids an opportunity at an education as well as essentially community services.
(Courtesy: Jason Miller/Getty Images)
Maraniss highlights these contributions in the books and hopes to inspire kids on how athletes can and have done their part to make the world better outside of the game.
“I am excited for students to learn more about current athletes that are making a difference,” he said in a phone interview with Team NBS Media. “Athletes have the largest platform that they have where they are being courageous in speaking out about social issues and I think the time is right for a series like this.”
He also recognizes that in many instances kids are able to recognize certain issues because they live through them and thus they should be able to discuss these things in the open.
“Families are living with these issues and I don’t think it’s the case that these kids are too young to read them,” he said.
In addition, when it comes to literacy, sports is something that kids can relate to in some fashion and therefore can spark their interest in reading.
The International Platform on Sport and Development has provided information that includes the importance of connecting sport to literacy and how using sport as a vehicle can actually help to improve a child’s standing in the classroom.
In addition, author Sharon Hall, a recipient of the Presidential Award of Excellence in Math Teaching, said in a blog post for the organization Teachers First that using sports heroes in literary text has the potential to get kids excited about reading.
It is a concept that Maraniss is more than willing to latch onto.
(Courtesy: Andrew Maraniss)
“Sports is accessible,” he said. “Just becoming a reader, enjoying books, going to the library, those are the fundamental building blocks for an education. That is why I choose to write books that have a sports element to them because that reaches a wide range of kids.”
His next two books will be about the lives of the late NFL player turned veteran Pat Tillman and potentially Indigenous long-distance runner Jordan Marie Daniel which will be released later this year.
