Shooting from the Outside: How a Coach and Her Olympic Team Transformed Women's Basketball Book

In Shooting from the Outside, Tara VanDerveer tells a story of triumph on many levels. Woven through her chronicle of the team's undefeated year leading up to the Atlanta games is the story of her own inspiring rise as a coach. Having come of age before the Title IX ruling that prohibited sex discrimination in sports, the closest she could get to a basketball team in junior high was in a bear costume as the mascot. From her early days as an aspiring player to her first unpaid coaching job to her current position at the top of her field, her story encompasses the twenty-five-year saga of women in team sports. As the mastermind behind the Olympic win, VanDerveer also presents a riveting, behind-the-scenes look at the making of the team, including her unique view of players such as Sheryl Swoopes, Lisa Leslie, and Rebecca Lobo. "You have an opportunity and a responsibility to represent hope to the country," she told the team. "You can show that differences don't need to divide people, whether you're black or white, from the city or from a farm." This is the rich, emotionally textured story of how the team grew - women pushing the limit, making sacrifices in pursuit of excellence, succeeding together.