It's Not About the Bra: Play Hard, Play Fair, and Put the Fun Back Into Competitive Sports – The Olympic Champion's Blueprint for Winning with Grace and Teamwork

by Brandi Chastain

Youth sports aren't just about fun and games anymore. What should be a pleasurable experience is often marred by poor sportsmanship, trash talking, win-at-all-cost attitudes, and, in the worst cases, violence. But World Cup soccer champion and Olympic gold medalist Brandi Chastain has a solution. In It's Not About the Bra , Chastain draws on lessons learned in her phenomenal career and in her experience as a parent to illuminate "the beautiful game" and provide creative answers to the challenges that face young athletes and their parents. Chastain emphasizes the importance of developing leadership skills, finding (and becoming) role models, and giving back to one's team and community. She offers a blueprint for kids and parents alike on how to play fair, win (and lose) with grace, and, above all, have a good time doing it.

Genres: Sports, Nonfiction, Soccer

224 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2004

Reviews

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm not a mom or a soccer player or a coach or professional athlete, but I had the honor to meet and train with Brandi on a recent vacation. She is truly an inspiration! I got to witness first-hand her cheering on high school girls running around the track, encouraging them to do their best. Her story is amazing. Dreams do come true, Hollywood!

[Ryan Willox · Rating 3 out of 5]

Love soccer, thought the '99 final was one of the most inspiring sports stories maybe ever. However, Chastain definitely comes across as one of those athletes whose natural ability concealed a questionable appreciation of the game they played. This is interesting, a decent distraction, especially to those whom Chastain might represent a role model. But,.....her story lacks a compelling narrative or voice. You come away thinking that this could as easily have been written by 10 other potential 5th penalty takers from that sunny July day in California. Hard core fans of soccer, and women's soccer, only.

[Gian Calo · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Its Not About The Bra" is the autobiography of Brandi Chastain, one of the best female soccer players in history, and her road to become a professional soccer player. In the book she talks about expirences;for example, in her freshmen year at college she didn't care about her classes, she skipped school, and she had F's. After this she got a hold of herself and she studied as hard as she ever has and it paid off when she started to get straight A's and she then graduated from Santa Clara an A student. Another important thing that happened in her life was the 1999 Womens World Cup. She was the leader of the teams defense and she played hard throught the entire tournament. Then came the final versus China:It was a really close game and it went to a penalty shootout.Brandi was exhausted and so was everyone in her team. Liu Ying's penalty was saved by the goalkeeper and Brandi's friend Brianna Scurry and it was four to four. Brandi was up ad she was the last kick. If sche scored the USA womens team would win the cup, but if she missed they would go to sudden death. With the mistake she made earlier in the tournament in her head she hit the ball with power and she beated the goalie and then the iconic image came when she took off her shirt in celebration which is a moment edged in womens soccer history. I really liked this book because it told me and showed me that there are pros and cons to being a soccer player in college and professional too. I would recommend this book for any soccer player or sports star who are in their teens and also who are about to head to college because she talks about what not to do and also what you need to do when you're playing. Brandi has been through a lot in her life;for example, she injured her ACL and was out of action for a really long time,also loosing her grandfather before the 1996 Olympics. She is a mother and in the book she has a lot of expirences with her stepson Cameron. Brandi Chastain is a hero for womens soccer, she is a pioneer for womens soccer in the USA, and she is regarded as the hero of the 1999 Womens World Cup.

[Billy Hart · Rating 4 out of 5]

Coach, player, Mom, wife and author Brandi provided an interesting look at her past experiences on the soccer field from a kid to U.S. Gold. Player, parent or coaches will absorb this book well. Her lessons in growing up and as a mature adult that is a gifted, hard-working athlete are well outlined in this book. somewhat helpful for other sports, a terrific read for this one.

[Hannah Maynard · Rating 5 out of 5]

It’s Not About The Bra goes on through Brandi Chastain’s soccer career since she was little. It focuses in on her struggles that came with playing. She had played on several different teams including the United States National Team.
This book in my opinion was very insightful because it showed me different way to have better sportsmanship. Brandi Chastain shows how through the different hard times that come with playing there are always ways to get better. I prefer to read this book every so often because it reminds me of how players should be and help me realize what I should be like. Also, from hearing her stories it cam give me a role model to look up to in a soccer aspect.
The purpose of writing the book was like a “how to” guide. Brandi Chastain takes her moments from playing whether good or bad and tells the readers how she made herself better from those moments. All that sowed people how they could be better if they go through the same thing. Even within the title it shows the theme. Under the main title it comes up with as “Play Hard, Play Fair, and Put the Fun Back into Competitive Sports”. The book tells you how to do that.

[Annie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was very boring. It was good showing that woman can be like just as tough and strong and stuff as men but like it was really boring after awhile. I tried to pick it up and read it again many times but I never was able too.

[Moocowmooshoe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good spirited book

[Tabatha]

i liked this book alot, Brandi Chastain wrote it, AND I GOT IT SIGNED!

[Alex Reed · Rating 5 out of 5]

So far, i have a whole new outlook on soccer and i have been playing for 9 years!

[Sally Mernaugh]

Meh

[Jashvina Shah · Rating 2 out of 5]

The best part of this book is at the end. It’s mostly about how parents should treat their kids in sports (which I agree with - sports parents are intense nowadays). There are some useful pieces of information but a lot of it are things most people already know