Lessons from the Sidelines

A self-help parenting book that shares ten insights into self-discipline and teamwork learned from the author’s time as a parent.

In her self-help parenting book LESSONS FROM THE SIDELINES, Karen R. Blake lays out ten lessons for both parents and children that she learned when her kids were participating in sports. Among the lessons are suggestions such as “beat your coach to practice,” “do your best with no expectations,” and “own your own equipment,” which together emphasize the importance of discipline and teamwork.

Each of the lessons, alongside the book’s introduction and conclusion, average only two pages in length, bringing the book to a total of less than thirty pages. Its brevity means that it is unable to delve into the particulars of why these lessons are important and what skills or attributes they can help a child or parent develop in order to succeed. Some lessons, like “be your kid’s biggest fan,” are genuinely inspiring on their own, while others, like “there are times when it is best to make the first move,” lack the context and examples to be valuable for readers. Among the minimally impactful bits of wisdom, there are lines that shine: “Learning how to be a gracious loser is just as important as being a humble winner,” for instance, is succinct yet sage.

Each brief chapter includes a paragraph titled “Real-Time Application,” which is intended to delineate practical opportunities for a parent to exemplify the book’s lessons for their children; however, the applications center on potential business practices and behaviors an employee may exhibit in the workplace, such as showing up early to meetings and staying late to go over the notes—in comparison to “beating your coach to practice.” Some supposed applications have little to do with their associated lesson; filling in the gaps for an absent employee when working on a team project to be sure it is delivered on time, for instance, is unrelated to the lesson of “assume there is practice unless you have been told otherwise.” Other application sections are not examples of the lesson in action but are a continuation of the lesson itself—just described in vague terms—such as “Real-Time Application: You can feel more confident about when to make the first move in life and business if you have a trusted coach or mentor to guide you. It is best to confer with your coach or mentor who is more familiar with the rules and strategies of the game before your turn on the mat.”

Unfortunate misspellings, like “paraphilia” instead of “paraphernalia” distract and confuse. Passive voice and wordiness are common occurrences, including sentences such as “A meeting has been called” and “The problem in making the first move in life and in business is that you are never sure if you are exposing yourself to unforeseen forces that could take advantage of you. The risk could bring about rewards later.” The two lined pages intended for the reader to take notes at the end of the book are presumptuous.

In spite of the problematic nature of its short length, LESSONS FROM THE SIDELINES at least tries to encourage parents and kids to go above and beyond in their work and extracurricular activities.

IR Verdict: With only a paragraph or two to outline each parenting lesson learned from children’s sports, Karen R. Blake’s LESSONS FROM THE SIDELINES is too brief and unorganized to offer valuable insight for parents and kids.

Author Karen R. Blake, MBA has written a book that shows how parents of kids in afterschool sports can be a winner on the sidelines. Lessons from the Sidelines is a book which will resonate with readers.

Lessons from the Sidelines details Blake’s experience as a sports mom when her sons were in soccer, lacrosse, wrestling, and tennis camps. She writes about how it’s important for parents to be just as prepared for the kids’ practice as their children are. Blake advocates being early for practice so that you and your child are prepared for practice and dedicated to the game. Lessons from the Sidelines also advocates that your children get mentoring advice from other student athletes in their sports so they become better athletes. She also wants parents to invest in buying sports equipment so your children can get extra practice in and improve their games.

In addition to practical advice, Blake offers emotional advice which goes beyond sports. She writes about how important it is to support your children off the field. One chapter details how parents should encourage their children to do their best no matter the outcome of the game. Blake also writes about encouraging other parents to volunteer their services with any gifts they have to help the student athletes play their best on their teams. She writes about the importance of sportsmanship when a player is injured, that their safety is paramount. Blake says that players and their parents should “take a knee,” stop play, and make sure that the injured player is all right before resuming play

Blake writes so well about the balance between professionalism and vulnerability in student sports. Lessons from the Sidelines provides valuable lessons to student athletes about how to improve their performance in sports and how to ask for help to become better athletes. The book is unique in that it offers lessons to parents about how to support their children and how to be better sports-parents.

Lessons from the Sidelines would be best for sports parents who are balancing their own busy work schedules with their kids’ weekend sports calendars. Her organizational advice will be invaluable to many parents. The book can also be shared with student athletes to help them become better athletes and more importantly, better people that learn about teamwork and sportsmanship. Blake’s book would be an invaluable resource for parents and children that want to learn about how to do well on and off the field.

Featuring a wealth of information, guidance, and motivation, Karen R. Blake’s Lessons from the Sidelines is a bite-sized guide to (noticeably) performing and excelling in both the personal and professional spheres. Starting from the hypothesis that “The main reason that adults want their children to participate in organize sports is to teach some of the lessons of character that they will carry with them into adulthood,” Blake leverages her experience as the mother of two boys who participated in organized sports throughout their childhood to provide tips and tricks for succeeding in all facets of life.

On the basis that most lessons in life are best learned through experience—“teamwork, self-sacrifice, working to achieve a goal, persistence, learning when to lead and when to follow, be prepared, and follow through”—Blake structures Lessons from the Sidelines around ten brief lessons that reflect the behaviors and mindsets most likely to help a person achieve their aims, whether at work, at home, or in the wider world. Drawn from her observations of the goals, challenges, and benefits encountered by her and her children during their sporting endeavors, these lessons have both theoretical and practical application.

Still, Lessons from the Sidelines packs in a host of easily digestible ideas and approaches for practical ways to leverage common sense lessons from daily life, particularly the arena of sports, to achieve success and contentment in working life. In particular, Blake strikes a good balance between means of ensuring success—or “winning” in business—and ways of becoming a well-rounded person, such as investigating all talents, volunteering to help however possible, and being a lifelong learner. Her friendly and accessible advice is applicable to all people and all walks of life.

– Reviewed by Erin Britton

Karen R. Blake, a brain cancer survivor, gained many crucial life lessons from twenty years of marriage and parenthood. Raising two boys while sustaining a cooperative marriage, Blake’s journey is a testament to the particular gifts of valuable lessons in honing one’s skills through practice, taking initiative, and being a supportive parent. In her book, Lessons from the Sidelines, Blake shares her journey, realizing the wisdom imparted by experiences in organized sports. In sports, as in life, there is value in understanding the dynamics of teamwork, self-sacrifice, and persistence. Parents and children can discern the applicability of adopting and embodying these values in other areas of life outside of team sports.

Lessons from the Sidelines is a quick read for busy parents and professionals, and it contains actionable tips for everyday situations. A handful of photos of Blake’s children in team sports offer the book an intimate feel. This book is relevant for parents and caregivers of young people searching for intention and validation in supporting the children in their care.

As a parent of a grown child, reading Lessons from the Sidelines was a transformative experience. It inspired me to reflect on my motivation to immerse my child in various activities outside school. Blake’s reflections resonated with me, reminding me of the poignant takeaways I had as a parent and how the experience of parenting has shaped and molded my approach to life and leadership.

Whether you’re a parent, a caregiver, or a business professional, Lessons from the Sidelines has something for you. As a business coach, Blake uses familiar, real-life examples of how lessons from team sports can impact success in the workplace. For example, she discusses the benefit of making the first move in life and business while being aware of the uncertainty and potential risks. It suggests seeking guidance from a trusted coach or mentor to increase confidence and understanding of appropriate rules and strategies. In another chapter, Blake underscores the importance of being open to continuous learning. Summer camps, workshops, and watching professionals play a crucial role in helping overcome learning curves. By being exposed to different educational opportunities, individuals can gain new ideas and perspectives, while working with experienced mentors helps acquire the knowledge necessary to execute.

Readers will learn how preparation, determination, and introspection can build character. Blake shares how lessons learned in team sports can make one a better parent, a more reliable volunteer, and an influential colleague in the workplace. Maintaining perspective in competitive environments, such as the business world, was a powerful reminder for me. Blake emphasizes the importance of empathy and support for competitors, highlighting the value of cooperation amid competition. In the end, the true value of winning is attaining peace.

– Reviewed by Maileen Hamto

“The main reason adults want their children to participate in organized sports is to teach the lessons of character they will carry with them into adulthood.”

A mother to two boys who played a variety of organized sports growing up, Blake has parlayed many of the skills and life lessons her sons’ coaches imparted to their youth sports teams into a handy collection of ten “lessons of character,” which can be carried over into adulthood. From her young boys’ involvement in playing baseball, lacrosse, basketball, soccer, wrestling, ice hockey, and swimming, the author explores how such sport-related experiences can be applied in real-time guidance throughout one’s life. The lessons show both thoughtulness and practicality: beat the coach to practice; assume there always is practice; everyone can play every position; it’s best to make the first move; own your own equipment; learn from those who have succeeded; always do your best; when someone is injured, everybody stop and take a knee; follow through if you sign up to bring snacks; and, finally, always be your child’s biggest fan.

One definitive strength of Blake’s text includes the fact that, after an explanation of each of the top ten life lessons, she then discusses examples of “real-time applications,” where the specific topics under consideration—though primarily relevant to youth sports—are extrapolated and refined in a manner germane to everyday situations in adulthood. Further, Blake’s deep love for her twenty years of marriage and parenthood, which is referenced multiple times and with a profound sense of gratitude, shines vividly through these pages as tangible connections are highlighted between the sportsmanship lessons learned by her children and broader, real-life examples and circumstances. What she shares with her readers makes for a highly enjoyable read, at once both casual and deceptively insightful. Blake’s enthusiastic insistence on openness “to the learning and application” of additional life lessons her family will, in time, reveal proves contagious for the general reader, and happily so.

– Jonah Meyer

Karen Blake has worked both as the owner of a nonprofit and as a mother of two. Both are demanding jobs, and it seems as though both would require a very different set of skills. In some ways, they do, but in her book, she points out ten lessons she has learned from being a mother of two boys involved in sports that can be applicable to the business world as well. The lessons aren’t just for people involved in business, though. They can be applied to many more aspects of adult life, from other career paths to volunteering to simply getting along with friends.

The book is arranged in a simple, easy-to-follow structure. Karen first lays out the lesson, then explains the context in which she learned it. The second half of the chapter explains how it can be applied to the “real world”—in this case, an office setting, but it only takes a little imagination to figure out how to apply them to different aspects of your life.

The first lesson, for example, involves showing up to practice even before the coach is there. Taken literally, that doesn’t offer much for an office worker, but Blake goes on to explain that the lesson here is about dedication. If you show up early, not only will it show other people in your life that you are dedicated, but you can also make sure you have everything set up as you need it rather than scrambling as everyone else is getting started. The same goes for staying late; it shows dedication and allows you to possibly catch up with other people.

I found the book to be very useful. The ten lessons are easy to understand, and Blake has a friendly, accessible tone. I’ve never been the mother of sports children or an employee at an office, but I still found the book helpful and applicable to my life.

My one complaint is that the book doesn’t go into much detail about any of the lessons. The book itself is only thirty-four pages, meaning each lesson only has a few pages apiece. That makes it hard to go past the surface. I would have been interested to see Blake expand on the lessons, either by providing more examples of how they have worked in her life or by discussing in greater detail what they could mean for the reader. On the whole, though, this is a very useful book which will help many people.

– Reviewed by Jo Niederhoff