The Rebounders
A Division I Basketball Journey
by Amanda Ottaway
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Pub Date 01 Mar 2018 | Archive Date 01 Mar 2018
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Description
Unlike the stories of most visible Division I college athletes, Amanda Ottaway’s story has more in common with those of the 80 percent of college athletes who are never seen on TV. The Rebounders follows the college career of an average NCAA Division I women’s basketball player in the twenty-first century, beginning with the recruiting process when Ottaway is an eager, naive teenager and ending when she’s a more contemplative twentysomething alumna.
Ottaway’s story, along with the journeys of her dynamic Wildcat teammates at Davidson College in North Carolina, covers in engaging detail the life of a mid-major athlete: recruitment, the preseason, body image and eating disorders, schoolwork, family relationships, practice, love life, team travel, game day, injuries, drug and alcohol use, coaching changes, and what comes after the very last game. In addition to the everyday issues of being a student athlete, The Rebounders also covers the objectification of female athletes, race, sexuality, and self-expression.
Most college athletes, famous or not, play hard, get hurt, fail, and triumph together in a profound love of their sport and one another, and then their careers end and they figure out how to move on. From concussions and minor injuries to classrooms, parties, and relationships, Ottaway understands the experience of a Division I women’s basketball player firsthand. The Rebounders is, at its core, a feminist coming-of-age story, an exploration of what it means to be a young woman who loves a sport and is on a course of self-discovery through that medium.
Advance Praise
“A personal, often poignant account of how hard it is to be a student-athlete, especially at a place like Davidson—and about what actually matters in the end.”—Michael Kruse, senior staff writer for Politico and author of Taking the Shot: The Davidson Basketball Moment
“This book, an exaltation of women in sports, is an important conversation about the space that women hold for one another; the knots we tie, the goals we reach, the urgency of college sports as experienced by women, and the sacred sorority of female athletes who seek excellence—and find it.”—Dominique Christina, author of This Is Woman’s Work: Calling Forth Your Inner Council of Wise, Brave, Crazy, Rebellious, Loving, Luminous Selves
Available Editions
| EDITION | Other Format |
| ISBN | 9780803296848 |
| PRICE | $29.95 (USD) |
| PAGES | 304 |
Featured Reviews
Edwin H, Reviewer
THE REBOUNDERS by Amanda Ottaway is a memoir about being a Division I women's basketball player. Being a excellent athlete, and yet somewhere around the middle of the talent pool within all of women's collegiate basketball, Ottaway's perspective gives a very relatable and working class feel to the book. From high school playing and recruiting, to accepting the new life as a scholarship college student, to setting an example for teammates and young women yearning to play basketball at a Division I level, THE REBOUNDERS carries Ottaway from aspiring youth to a grounded and level-headed adult ready to take on the world.
Ottaway doesn't shy away sharing how so many decisions she made she questioned, doubted, and still ponders many choices she made. It's a very heart-on-your-sleeve approach to a memoir, but therefore by sharing the self doubt and nervous indecision, the book is about as real as you can get. She connects many of her experiences to greater discussions, like stereotyping women athletes as less feminine that other women, to the realities of women's college athletes vs men's college athletes, (although she is quick to admit that women's basketball has it better than most women's sports), to balancing friendship and comradery with her teammates and yet competing with them at the same time. Ottaway points out challenges she had along the way, but is not afraid to confess that she created some of the those challenges by the choices she made.
Gritty, honest, and in your face, THE REBOUNDERS entertains with a recounting of a young athlete but also enlightens a reader to the good and bad of being a female in collegiate athletics.
Educator 450376
This book is perfect for any athlete who wants to play basketball in college and their families and friends. Reading The Rebounders would prompt anyone going through the recruitment process to ask the important questions. I wish I would have had access to such a resource when I was a player. Ms. Ottoway relays this information through detailed stories of her own experiences as a D1 student-athlete in a way that is relatable and intriguing even to those of us past our playing age. I did not anticipate that I would find NCAA rules so important to understand or interesting to read about, but reading how violations of those rules impact players made me feel protective of Ms. Ottoway and her teammates and current players. Reading this wonderful book gave me as a fan much greater respect for the young women who play, I encourage everyone to read it.
