This book is the story of a female coach's journey into the male
dominated world of coaching rugby. The journey provides a parallel
between the author's personal and spiritual growth and her realization
that coaching sport in the modern world conflicts with any awakening and
development of the human spirit.
The author's personal journey of "getting to spirit" begins with a
realization that ordinary men and women have been living and operating
in fear and judgment for most of their lives. In the parallel world of
coaching and sports, we have been operating under this same fear and
judgment. There is a realization that our society has projected the ego
driven "need to win" from a verb to a noun. Society has translated
losing in sport to being losers in life. If the participants of sport
accept this translation, they are unwittingly accepting a self-belief
that encompasses much more than their ability to run, jump, kick, catch,
throw, or play. The self-belief of being a loser aligns easily with the
ego's natural criticism of our entire selves.
The delivery and coaching of team sport have taken the "I" out of team.
Many participants have given up their own intuitive identities for
acceptance into the culture of the team or group. In an overriding
dedication to a sport, and to winning, athletes and coaches have
accepted the world's version of who they are as opposed to their own.
The author believes that the motivation to run and play comes from our
own sense of joy of participating in an activity. Unfortunately, in the
course of time the emphasis has shifted from the performance to needing
an outcome. We have lost why we perform in the first place: Because it
gives us joy.
The author describes her journey of learning by relating many stories of
her experiences and how they relate to a global picture of coaching
sport. The personal anecdotes and stories involve her experiences of
becoming trapped in "ego," and how to distinguish between that which is
ego and that which is spirit.
The book argues that if we do not change the existing culture of
coaching and playing sport in our society, we will lose the opportunity
to enhance people's lives.
