Amazon Best Books of the Month, October 2010: Each year, millions of grammar school
athletes swarm fields and courts armed with little more than an infectious love for
their games. These endeavors represent the purity of sport, as kids are allowed to
be kids and compete outside the demands of lucrative contracts and extensive media
coverage. Yet sadly, as George Dohrmann's Play Their Hearts Out demonstrates, such
a paradise is fading fast in today's corporate sports world. Dohrmann provides
a first-hand account of the rise of a nine-year-old basketball phenom and the
grassroots programs that both helped and hindered his dreams of superstardom.
To call this story a cautionary tale is to sell it short, as Play Their Hearts Out
is an unflinching look at the increasing need for hype in youth athletics. Fans of
the brilliant Hoop Dreams documentary are advised to add this book to their cart
immediately, as Dohrmann's masterful ability to remove himself from the plotline
achieves an honesty that leaves any and all judgments to the reader. --Dave Callanan

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