The Matheny Manifesto, by Mike Matheny

Mike Matheny shook up the world of Little League Baseball when he agreed to coach a team of kids, but the shakeup was when he wrote a five page letter to the other parents declaring how he would be different in the way he approached the task. Bottom Line, Matheny wanted to teach kids how to play the game, he wanted to teach them character, he wanted to help them develop into good young people who show respect to the other players on their team, to their coaches, to their parents, to the umpires and to the other teams they play. Character is more important than winning!

That is quite different from other things that little league coaches want. Most want to win at all costs and this usually leads to very poor character development and to allowing many kids to sit on the sideline and never really getting a chance to play and develop.

In his book Matheny talks about his own development through little league and then high school, college, the minor leagues and then the majors. His focus is on the many coaches that were getting it right and how they helped him to develop into a fine young man.

The other thing that is really good is the fact that he honors Coach John Wooden from the U.C.L.A. Bruins for his coaching style. Coach Wooden was also one who sought to develop character in his college athletes instead of just wanting to win. What's interesting is that Coach Wooden was working with Basketball Players not Baseball players. BUT, the coaching style works no matter what the sport.

In our culture parents have become a major problem with youth sports. Matheny addresses that and proves his point of the fact that building character over winning will also bring a winning style. Coach Wooden had a winning percentage of over 800 for his entire career, that is impressive and won't easily be out done.

If you want an encourage story about coaching for character this is the book for you.