We’re big proponents of continued learning at LeagueApps—and in youth sports specifically, everything changes so quickly. Whether it’s technology, leadership styles, educational techniques, or something else, it’s crucial that you stay on top of new trends so you can deliver the best experience possible to your athletes and keep them coming back every year. 

That’s why we’re always looking for content to share with our community—like blogs, podcasts, newsletters, and, of course, books. 

Here’s our list of must-reads for youth sports organizers in 2024 along with their brief summaries:

Youth Sports Books

Game On by Tom Farrey

4.2/5 Goodreads

Played by more than thirty million boys and girls across the country, youth sports have turned from a casual activity for kids into a fanatical force–an intense, expensive, elitist rite of passage driven by the needs of impatient (if often well-meaning) adults. In Game On, award-winning ESPN reporter Tom Farrey explores the causes and consequences of our obsession with early success in sports. The effort to sort the strong from the weak at ever-younger ages, Farrey argues, pushes too many children to the sidelines–and ultimately undermines the quality of U.S. national teams. We’ve conscripted our kids into a sports arms race in which individual performance trumps participation and personal growth. To counter the effects of a win-at-all-costs culture, Farrey suggests measures that can help parents–and communities–get children off the couch without running them into the ground.

Much as Fast Food Nation challenged our eating habits and Outliers encouraged us to think in new ways about high achievers, Game On will change the way we look at the critically important games that American kids play.

BUY IT or Request a Free Copy from LeagueApps

What Size Balls Do I Need: A Roadmap for Survival in the Dizzying World of Youth Sports by Steve Morris

4.7/5 Goodreads

In What Size Balls Do I Need? Coach Steve Morris delivers a perspective injection for parents and coaches trying to navigate the $17 billion youth sports industry. The pressure to choose programs that will position budding athletes for success and glory can be all-consuming. Teasing that “our sons and daughters have a better chance of owning a professional team than playing on one,” Coach Steve gives parents permission to relax and focus on the fun within the “ten-year window” of their kids’ participation in sports. Using the wisdom gained from navigating thousands of girls and boys and their parents through the gauntlet of youth sports, he has created a book filled with humor and personal stories that tackles crucial topics.

BUY IT or Request a Free Copy from LeagueApps

Let Them Lead by John U. Bacon

4.46/5 Goodreads

An uplifting leadership book about a coach who helped transform the nation’s worst high school hockey team into one of the best. Bacon’s strategy is straightforward: set high expectations, make them accountable to each other, and inspire them all to lead their team. When John U. Bacon played for the Ann Arbor Huron High School River Rats, he never scored a goal. Yet somehow, years later he found himself leading his alma mater’s downtrodden program. How bad? The team hadn’t won a game in over a year, making them the nation’s worst squad—a fact they celebrated. With almost everyone expecting more failure, Bacon made it special to play for Huron by making it hard, which inspired the players to excel. Then he defied conventional wisdom again by putting the players in charge of team discipline, goal-setting, and even decision-making – and it worked. In just three seasons the River Rats bypassed 95-percent of the nation’s teams.

BUY IT or Request a Free Copy from LeagueApps

Sports Culture Books

The Captain’s Class by Sam Walker 

4.03/5 Goodreads

The seventeen most dominant teams in sports history had one thing in common: Each employed the same type of captain—a singular leader with an unconventional set of skills and tendencies. Drawing on original interviews with athletes, general managers, coaches, and team-building experts, Sam Walker identifies the seven core qualities of the Captain Class—from extreme doggedness and emotional control to tactical aggression and the courage to stand apart. Told through riveting accounts of pressure-soaked moments in sports history, The Captain Class will challenge your assumptions of what inspired leadership looks like.

BUY IT or Request a Free Copy from LeagueApps

Wooden: A Lifetime of Observations and Reflections on and off the Court by John Wooden

4.46/5 Goodreads

Evoking days gone by when coaches were respected as much for their off-court performances as for their success on the court, Wooden presents the timeless wisdom of legendary basketball coach John Wooden. In honest and telling passages about virtually every aspect of life, Coach shares his personal philosophy on family, achievement, success, and excellence. Raised on a small farm in south-central Indiana, he offers lessons and wisdom learned throughout his career at UCLA, and life as a dedicated husband, father, and teacher. These lessons, along with personal letters from Bill Walton, Denny Crum, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and Bob Costas, among others, have made Wooden: A Lifetime of Observations and Reflections on and off the Court an inspirational classic.

BUY IT or Request a Free Copy from LeagueApps

How Soccer Explains the World by Franklin Foer

Soccer is much more than a game, or even a way of life. It’s a perfect window into the crosscurrents of today’s world, with all its joys and sorrows. In this remarkably insightful, wide-ranging work of reportage, Franklin Foer takes us on a surprising tour through the world of soccer, shining a spotlight on the clash of civilizations, the international economy, and just about everything in between. How Soccer Explains the World is an utterly original book that makes sense of our troubled times.

BUY IT or Request a Free Copy from LeagueApps

Coaching & Leadership Books

The Score Takes Care of Itself: My Philosophy of Leadership by Bill Walsh

4.23/5 Goodreads

Bill Walsh is a towering figure in the history of the NFL. His advanced leadership transformed the San Francisco 49ers from the worst franchise in sports to a legendary dynasty. In the process, he changed the way football is played. Prior to his death, Walsh granted a series of exclusive interviews to bestselling author Steve Jamison. These became his ultimate lecture on leadership. Additional insights and perspectives are provided by Hall of Fame quarterback Joe Montana and others. Bill Walsh taught that the requirements of successful leadership are the same whether you run an NFL franchise, a fortune 500 company, or a hardware store with 12 employees. These final words of ‘wisdom by Walsh’ will inspire, inform, and enlighten leaders in all professions.

BUY IT or Request a Free Copy from LeagueApps

Playing the Enemy: Nelson Madela and the Game That Made a Nation by John Carlin

4.17/5 Goodreads

Beginning in a jail cell and ending in a rugby tournament- the true story of how the most inspiring charm offensive in history brought South Africa together. After being released from prison and winning South Africa’s first free election, Nelson Mandela presided over a country still deeply divided by fifty years of apartheid. His plan was ambitious if not far-fetched: use the national rugby team, the Springboks-long an embodiment of white-supremacist rule-to embody and engage a new South Africa as they prepared to host the 1995 World Cup. The string of wins that followed not only defied the odds, but capped Mandela’s miraculous effort to bring South Africans together again in a hard-won, enduring bond.

BUY IT or Request a Free Copy from LeagueApps

Startup/ Business Books

Shoe Dog by Phil Knight

4.47/5 Goodreads

In this instant and tenacious New York Times bestseller, Nike founder and board chairman Phil Knight “offers a rare and revealing look at the notoriously media-shy man behind the swoosh” (Booklist, starred review), illuminating his company’s early days as an intrepid start-up and its evolution into one of the world’s most iconic, game-changing, and profitable brands.

BUY IT or Request a Free Copy from LeagueApps

Veeck as in Wreck by Bill Veeck

4.12/5 Goodreads

Bill Veeck was an inspired team builder, a consummate showman, and one of the greatest baseball men ever involved in the game. His classic autobiography, written with the talented sportswriter Ed Linn, is an uproarious book packed with information about the history of baseball and tales of players and owners, including some of the most entertaining stories in all of sports literature.

BUY IT or Request a Free Copy from LeagueApps