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The Rebounders: A Division I Basketball Journey
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 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.
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 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.
304 pages, Hardcover
Published March 1, 2018
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
March 21, 2018
This book is such a great and honestly written account of being a woman in NCAA Division I sports. Ottaway captures the highs and lows of being both student and athlete during her college years and puts it on context with the drive for gender equity in sports inside and outside academic environments. I totally tore through this book and deeply connected with her and her teammates even from my own experiences playing varsity high school sports and college club sports. She's got such a great voice!
February 15, 2018
DNF at 28% - This memoir of a young woman who was recruited by a mid-major Division I school was honest and written in a manner that fit the thoughts and lifestyle of a player that age.. However, it was not a book that held my interest as I found it hard to follow. I do wish to thank University of Nebraska Publishing for providing a copy of this book, but unfortunately I just found this topic and style of writing to be something I did not enjoy.
March 30, 2021
I loved this book! You’ll follow the basketball career of Amanda from her early days getting into basketball to her final days of college at Davidson. The basketball dork in me loved this book. There’s some basketball terminology that may not appeal to some people, I ate that shit up!
You’ll learn about the student athlete experience in college. There were lots of things that I haven’t considered about women playing sports such as body image, sex appeal, the wear and tear on their bodies amongst other things. I got increasingly frustrated at the coach/player power dynamic that allows coaches to impose their will on the athletes while the athletes can’t do much about it. A lot of that shit is just awful and gross...the things they got away with...ugh.
You’ll learn about the student athlete experience in college. There were lots of things that I haven’t considered about women playing sports such as body image, sex appeal, the wear and tear on their bodies amongst other things. I got increasingly frustrated at the coach/player power dynamic that allows coaches to impose their will on the athletes while the athletes can’t do much about it. A lot of that shit is just awful and gross...the things they got away with...ugh.
March 19, 2020
A spot on memoir of what college basketball was really like. Made me miss every aspect of the journey!
February 4, 2018
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 many aspects of women's collegiate sports, from important dates, to influential people, and even considers what the future holds.
Thank you to University of Nebraska Press, Amanda Ottaway, and Netgalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
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 many aspects of women's collegiate sports, from important dates, to influential people, and even considers what the future holds.
Thank you to University of Nebraska Press, Amanda Ottaway, and Netgalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
July 24, 2018
Another library find. It is sad that not much has changed with coaching and women's sports in the last 30 years. Ottaway is very recently removed from her D-1 experience at Davidson, so the descriptions are fresh. I loved that this is the perspective of an athlete that is not a "top D-1 recruit". It would be interesting for her to revisit her experience 20 years from now. Still, it is sickening how student/athletes of color and lgbtq student/athletes are today treated in many programs in the country. Ottaway describes an interaction with her coach and mom while she was being recruited. The coach made it clear that she did tolerate lesbians on her team. I was sad that the response was to stay quiet and also understood that her mom was hoping for a full scholarship for her daughter. The suffering and damage of having to hide who you are is immeasurable.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 17, 2018
Really nicely done account of a young woman’s journey through college as a division I basketball scholarship recipient. The author’s growth from wide-eyed freshman to seasoned (and jaded) senior can be felt through the retelling of her stories, a key to good memoir. I know nothing about basketball but I am a mother to four athletic children, and Amanda’s memoir is an honest look at the trade-offs between sport and higher education. Recommend for parents of potential college athletes as well as for the athletes themselves.
August 24, 2022
(Full disclosure: this book was written by a very good friend of mine.) But honestly: I am aggressively uninterested in sports and bad at reading about sports, and found this book absolutely riveting — to the extent that I found myself dreaming nightly that I was playing Division 1 basketball (but still 5'3"). This book is so much more than a college athlete's memoir: it's also about all the barriers to equity that women athletes continue to face, the incredible bonds that form between teammates, and how far we have to go to improve life for women athletes at the college level and beyond.
November 12, 2019
An amazing and intricate look at the life of a female athlete. I would highly recommend this book, as it is thoughtful and well-written, while the story is beautifully told and holds your attention the whole time. Ottaway skillfully examines what it means to be a female athlete in today's society and raises important points about societal structures, friendships, family, and more.
August 8, 2021
Amanda wrote the book she wish she'd had when growing up playing basketball and undertaking a Division I collegiate athletic experience. Helpful for young girls considering sports, but great for fans who want to read a frank behind the scenes story.
March 30, 2024
A well written account of the inner workings of a woman’s college sport and what the student athletes endure physically and emotionally.
February 23, 2018
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews