George Yeoman Pocock's The Boys In The Boat

Intro: The book boy overboard written by Morris Gleitzman delineate an Afghanistan family going in an horrendous trip to Australia hoping for a better future. The Talibans in Afghanistan have set some harsh and very cruel rules, Jamal's family can't obey those rules and broke them and as punishment the Talibans is planning to execute them. Jamal and his family are shocked about this incident, they decided to leave their friends and beloved village and move to a different country to prevent themselves from being executed. Jamal's parents was forced to sell their precious belongings and valuables to afford to pay the filthy smugglers a trip to Australia. The quest to Australia gets treacherous and life threatening but Jamal and his family was determined, valiant, had survival skills as good as bear grills , worked as a team, had a tremendous amount of hope and with these values they made it to an island near Australia but their destiny to Australia remains unknown.

Baker instills persistence into Holling, allowing him to exceed any limits or constraints put on him. In March, Holling learns that he is required to try out for the cross country team, but at this point, he is unaware of his talent. However, Mrs. Baker, being a medalist in running, teaches Holling to “run like Jesse Owens, who won four gold medals at the 1936 Olympics,” giving the reader as assumption that such a grand title would surely motivate Holling (Schmidt). Mrs. Baker taught Holling that running not only involves good form, but determination, and a willingness to push forward and strive. Preparing for a big meet, Holling was training vigorously to use technique, and to compete passionately, and “that night [he] ran like Jesse Owens through the dark March streets. Leaning forward. Arms and legs like pistons. Head straight and still. Hands loose. Breathing controlled” (Schmidt). Holling utilized what was taught to him and used it as motivation to push forward and exceed any limitation imposed on him. The limitations here are public opinions, or someone judging a person based on their appearance, intelligence, etc. Similarly, the eighth graders bullied Holling and the younger seventh graders which made them feel inferior and unable to be better than what they are, which with Mrs. Baker’s help, urges Holling to work harder, using what he learns from his teacher. Essentially, Mrs. Baker successfully teaches Holling to run like a champion, but

Daniel James Brown manages to awe and inspire readers in his book The Boys in the Boat, which describes the hardships a row crew from Washington underwent to make it to the 1936 Olympics. The story of the nine rowers on the Washington crew teaches lessons about inner confidence, trust, dedication, and the hope that can be found during even the most difficult times. I learned while reading that being the underdog doesn’t mean you’re destined to fail. Readers see that despite the hardships and many disadvantages the Washington crew faced, their dedication allowed them to beat the odds and inspire an entire nation.

As a casual reader of the sports section of this newspaper, you come across many articles depicting the triumphs of local athletes. However, very rarely do these articles describe the actual athlete behind the success. Athletes come in all sorts of sizes and shapes. They range from the incredibly talented to the horribly uncoordinated. Some are great teammates while others would rather be a one man team. Certain athletes seek out attention from the people around them while others are modest and stay in the background. The fact of the matter is that there is a wide spectrum of different types of athletes that exist in this world and no two athletes are exactly the same. However, each can be put

Success is a very sought after aspect in our society. Everyone strives for the nicest car, the largest home, or the most exciting job. However, Malcolm Gladwell’s book, Outliers, discusses how the path to success is not simple and it has a lot of factors that play into it. Being on a sports team throughout school or being a “student-athlete” may be one of them. Student athletes learn concepts like teamwork, hard work, and persistence—all of which are critical parts of the average adult career. The sports that these children and teens participate in fuel their competitive drive that can only help them in the workplace.

In my children’s book, Sam’s Plan, I used a parallel of David Wilson in the novel Pudd’nhead Wilson. As Sam grows up, his goal is to become an Olympic runner but everyone in his life is telling him that he can’t do it. He continues to strive for this dream even when he’s faced with immense obstacles. Even when he breaks his leg and the doctor thinks his Olympic career is over, he keeps fighting and striving for what he loves and what he wants to be. At the end of the novel, Sam finally gets first place in the mile at the Olympics and is handed an Olympic gold medal. On the last page of my children’s book, I used a version of the quote, “Gold medals aren’t really made of gold. They’re made of sweat, determination, and a hard-to-find alloy called

In September of 1994, Mo landed his education at a secondary school named Feltham Community College (Farah and Andrews 39). It was there that Mo met the man who changed his life (“Mo Farah,” Contemporary par. 5). Alan Watkinson, the gym teacher at Feltham, quickly picked up on Mo’s amazing talent of speed in gym class (Farah and Andrews 49). The way Mo was able to slice his way through cross country courses even while wearing deficient shoes made Alan feel that Mo was something special (“Mo Farah,” Contemporary par. 5 ). Alan realized that such talent needed to be nurtured with care (“Mo Farah,” Contemporary par. 5). He quickly got Mo involved in the local athletics (running) club which at the time was called, Borough of Hounslow (Farah and Andrews 57). It was there that Mo built his foundation for his future career. Mo later on said that without “Alan [Watkinson] [he] would have never been able to take those first steps towards [his] Olympic dream” (Farah and Andrews 65). Alan was was almost like a replacement of Mo’s father, guiding and motivating him every step of the way ( ). Running made Mo “feel like that [he] was a part of school life,” even though football was his passion (Farah and Andrews 52). He used running at the local athletics club to take his mind off the troubles in his life, eventually working his way to official meets ( ). At age 13, Mo competed in his

In the book The Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown the main theme is overcoming difficult odds. This theme is shown clearly at many points in the book. Early on in the story one of the most significant characters and member of the rowing team, Joe Rantz, faces monumental challenges in his life. To quote the book, “He [Joe’s father] went back upstairs and told his son he would have to move out of the house. Joe was 10.” This quote shows how even very early on, Joe’s life was difficult. When his mom died, his dad remarried and Joe’s new step-mom hated him. One day, the step-mom had enough of Joe, and when faced with the choice of his son or his new wife, Joe’s father chose his wife. Joe was sent to live on top of the schoolhouse. He worked around town in exchange for food and other items. A few years later they all moved to a new town looking for hope in the midst of the Great Depression. One day,

Success through teamwork is different from individual success. In Daniel James Brown’s “The Boys in the Boat” Joe Rantz and his teammates won the gold medal at the 1936 Olympics by placing the interests of “the boat” over their individual interests, and by doing so, they accomplished a feat that was greater than anything that they could have accomplished individually. This embodies the Belmont Hill motto, “Working Together” by showing how true teamwork leads to success through mutual respect, trust, and friendship.

As i read pages 114-115, i understood the anticipation of the rowing race in poughkeepsie. First, as the coaches held final workouts at night, i imagined their drive to win when they would go over rowing strategies. On the race day, as i read the passage, i witnessed a large crowd of people that were filled with excitement. Also, as if i were there myself, i tried to imagine the scent of fuel from the coaches’ boats. I felt the freshmen’s team will to win, along with the coaches.

It takes every member of a team to succeed. In order to move ahead, one must be willing to trust others. The Boys In The Boat, by Daniel James Brown, is based on a true story that took place in the state of Washington in 1933. A group of boys overcame tough times, picked themselves up, and never gave up. They were determined to strive for better prospects. During the Great Depression a group of young rowers from the University of Washington worked together to win gold at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin.

This amazing publication is about the best players in sports climbing the mountain to glory, and the hard work put in to make their dreams a reality. All of these athletes have major flaws that most of them cannot easily overcome, but they put in the work and effort to follow their dreams no matter the circumstances or challenges.

The intended audience for this book are athletes, but anyone can read this book because his philosophies can be used in our daily lives. The book spreads forty lessons in four parts: Part I - Welcome to the Inner Game Part II - Living the Dream Part III - Mind-Set for Success

Training Camp is a fictional book authored by Jon Gordon who has written many other stories that are teaching and expiring athletes of all levels. Each one of Gordon's books has a phrase that is the focus throughout the adventures of the characters. “What the best do better than everyone else” is the theme of Training Camp. As readers progress through the book, they learn about becoming the best alongside the story's main character, Martin. As Martin attempts to make a professional football team, he learns many lessons, but the four that have most impacted me are; the best know what they truly want, the lesson learned through the fishing trip, the lesson from the bad day, and the best are mentally strong.

In the documentary, “The Price of Glory”, highlights the stresses and types of stressors young competitive athletes experience because of their ultimate goal: win a gold medal in the Olympics. One specific character in this documentary was a gymnast named Phoebe with an age of twelve years old. One of the youngest in the Mills family, she was sent to train in Houston, leaving her sister - Jessica (another child athlete) - and her family behind. Phoebe’s life as an athletic is primarily determined by her parents. Her parents drove her to focus purely on gymnastics, to be the best at gymnastics, and ultimately win a gold medal in the Olympics.