Play Their Hearts Out Audiobook By George Dohrmann cover art

Play Their Hearts Out

A Coach, His Star Recruit, and the Youth Basketball Machine

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Play Their Hearts Out

By: George Dohrmann
Narrated by: Emily Rose Speer
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The NBA has returned to prominence on the backs of phenoms like LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, and Kevin Garnett. The media promotes them, the shoe companies pay them, and America applauds. But how exactly do such players reach the pros? What do they give up to get there? And what happens to those who fall short?

Drawing on eight years of reporting and telling the very specific tale of one talented young recruit, his coach, and his teammates, George Dohrmann immerses listeners in the world of grassroots basketball, where men hunt for future NBA stars and young boys and their parents navigate a tumultuous course in pursuit of basketball glory.

©2010 George Dohrmann (P)2010 Blackstone Publishing, and Urban Audiobooks Basketball Coaching Sports Sociology of Sports Youth Basketball

Critic reviews

“[A] wonderful and immaculately reported first book…It’s a brilliant and heart-wrenching journey, and a cautionary tale to any basketball player who thinks the path to the NBA is a slam dunk.” ( Publishers Weekly)

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This is at least my 3rd or 4th time listening to this book and it is just as good as the previous listens. I could list many reasons why I like this book (happened around the same times I was growing up, is about basketball, was one of my 1st Audible purchases that I enjoyed) but I think why I can continue to come back and listen to this book is because the story is so good.

The author does a such a good job understanding how AAU and grass works basketball works and you really feel like you get the whole picture. Even if something negative is said, there is always a good explanation for it. He does not shy away from the bad but also tries to highlight the many gray areas.

You feel like you are going on a journey with all of these kid and their families. The author does a great job weaving all of this together. Some have complained about the narration but I have no problem with the narrator as this she did different voices and had to emulate kids and adults. I think some of the editing could have been better, but I think she did a very fine job and would rather listen to her narration than not have this book available as an audio book.

If you are a fan of basketball at any level or have kids that are playing, I think you will very much enjoy this book.

I Could Listen to This Book Again And Again

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This is an awesome story and very enlightening for a parent of a young athlete.

A Great Read

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I rated this book a five because ,even though a written documentary , it was very entertaining .
Additionally , I found myself rooting for and hating some of the people.
The book provided a glimpse into what it take to become a top b ball player and what I might need to help my son with for him to succeed with his basketball goals.
1/2 way into the book I immediate researched and hired a trainer for my son and some of his friends . Some people had an issue with a female reader if a male author . Foolishness the narrator was great

A really good story

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As the author is a man who often talks in the first person, it is distracting to have a female narrator.

Should have male narrator

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Where does Play Their Hearts Out rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

The story was interesting and showed a little seen glimpse into grass roots basketball. I found the inside story of how urban kids are ofter exploited by "coaches" that are only concerned with lining their pockets. The story was interesting, but the audio production left a lot to be desired. You could hear the reader stumble over her words and you could hear frequent cuts where audio from multiple recording sessions had been spliced together.

Interesting Look into Grass Roots Basketball

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