Rebound: Sports, Community, and the Inclusive City
HERITAGE TORONTO 2022 BOOK AWARD NOMINEE

From basketball hoops to cricket bats, the role community sports play in our cities and how crucial they are to diversity and inclusion.

“The virus exposed how we live and work. It also revealed how we play, and what we lose when we have to stop.” For every kid who makes it to the NBA, thousands more seek out the pleasure and camaraderie of pick-up basketball in their local community centre or neighbourhood park. It’s a story that plays out in sport after sport – team and individual, youth and adult, men's and women's. While the dazzle of pro athletes may command our attention, grassroots sports build the bridges that link city-dwellers together in ways that go well beyond the physical benefits. The pandemic and heightened awareness of racial exclusion reminded us of the importance of these pastimes and the public spaces where we play. In this closely reported exploration of the role of community sports in diverse cities, Toronto journalist Perry King makes an impassioned case for re-imagining neighbourhoods whose residents can be active, healthy, and connected.

"I couldn’t stop reading Perry King’s Rebound. An evocative essay about the transformative and uniting power of local sports in a city with residents from every country in the world, the book is well researched, entertaining, and informative. It spoke to my own experiences as a young athlete fitting into a new city when I first came to Toronto – and to the importance our city government must place on local recreation and sports if our city is to help all residents reach their potential. A fantastic contribution to understanding Toronto – and to the power of local recreation in any major city." —David Miller, former mayor of Toronto

1138943015
Rebound: Sports, Community, and the Inclusive City
HERITAGE TORONTO 2022 BOOK AWARD NOMINEE

From basketball hoops to cricket bats, the role community sports play in our cities and how crucial they are to diversity and inclusion.

“The virus exposed how we live and work. It also revealed how we play, and what we lose when we have to stop.” For every kid who makes it to the NBA, thousands more seek out the pleasure and camaraderie of pick-up basketball in their local community centre or neighbourhood park. It’s a story that plays out in sport after sport – team and individual, youth and adult, men's and women's. While the dazzle of pro athletes may command our attention, grassroots sports build the bridges that link city-dwellers together in ways that go well beyond the physical benefits. The pandemic and heightened awareness of racial exclusion reminded us of the importance of these pastimes and the public spaces where we play. In this closely reported exploration of the role of community sports in diverse cities, Toronto journalist Perry King makes an impassioned case for re-imagining neighbourhoods whose residents can be active, healthy, and connected.

"I couldn’t stop reading Perry King’s Rebound. An evocative essay about the transformative and uniting power of local sports in a city with residents from every country in the world, the book is well researched, entertaining, and informative. It spoke to my own experiences as a young athlete fitting into a new city when I first came to Toronto – and to the importance our city government must place on local recreation and sports if our city is to help all residents reach their potential. A fantastic contribution to understanding Toronto – and to the power of local recreation in any major city." —David Miller, former mayor of Toronto

17.95 In Stock
Rebound: Sports, Community, and the Inclusive City

Rebound: Sports, Community, and the Inclusive City

by Perry King
Rebound: Sports, Community, and the Inclusive City

Rebound: Sports, Community, and the Inclusive City

by Perry King

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Overview

HERITAGE TORONTO 2022 BOOK AWARD NOMINEE

From basketball hoops to cricket bats, the role community sports play in our cities and how crucial they are to diversity and inclusion.

“The virus exposed how we live and work. It also revealed how we play, and what we lose when we have to stop.” For every kid who makes it to the NBA, thousands more seek out the pleasure and camaraderie of pick-up basketball in their local community centre or neighbourhood park. It’s a story that plays out in sport after sport – team and individual, youth and adult, men's and women's. While the dazzle of pro athletes may command our attention, grassroots sports build the bridges that link city-dwellers together in ways that go well beyond the physical benefits. The pandemic and heightened awareness of racial exclusion reminded us of the importance of these pastimes and the public spaces where we play. In this closely reported exploration of the role of community sports in diverse cities, Toronto journalist Perry King makes an impassioned case for re-imagining neighbourhoods whose residents can be active, healthy, and connected.

"I couldn’t stop reading Perry King’s Rebound. An evocative essay about the transformative and uniting power of local sports in a city with residents from every country in the world, the book is well researched, entertaining, and informative. It spoke to my own experiences as a young athlete fitting into a new city when I first came to Toronto – and to the importance our city government must place on local recreation and sports if our city is to help all residents reach their potential. A fantastic contribution to understanding Toronto – and to the power of local recreation in any major city." —David Miller, former mayor of Toronto


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781552454251
Publisher: Coach House Books
Publication date: 11/16/2021
Pages: 224
Product dimensions: 5.20(w) x 8.40(h) x 0.50(d)

About the Author

Perry King is an author, freelance journalist, communications strategist, and proud South Parkdale-raised Torontonian. With a literary focus on sports, education and urbanism, Perry has bylines in Spacing Magazine, the Toronto Star, Globe and Mail, BBC and a litany of independent newspapers and magazines.

Table of Contents

1 Why Do Sports Even Matter? 9

2 Sami and Lou 18

3 The End of Eastern 26

4 Nine Men in a Parking Lot 36

5 Why Do the Courts Suck in a City in Love with Basketball? 44

6 Bhatia, Drake, and the Making of Basketball Culture in the 6ix 53

7 Coaching as If Your Life Depended on It 61

8 Children at the Vanguard 66

9 Keeping Your Eye on the Ball 71

10 Harry Gairey's Enduring Lesson 79

11 Karl Subban's Philosophy of Life, Hockey, and Inclusion 86

12 'Cricket Plays Here' 94

13 The Curious Intersection of Politics and Cricket 104

14 Go Green: The Big Circle Where Cricket, Ecology, and Gender Met 109

15 Ajahn Suchart's Olympic Ambitions 117

16 The Death and Rebirth of the Wolfpack 128

17 A City Without Sport 134

18 Rebound 141

Acknowledgements 153

Bibliography 157

About the Author 167

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"I couldn’t stop reading Perry King’s Rebound. An evocative essay about the transformative and uniting power of local sports in a city with residents from every country in the world, the book is well researched, entertaining, and informative. It spoke to my own experiences as a young athlete fitting into a new city when I first came to Toronto – and to the importance our city government must place on local recreation and sports if our city is to help all residents reach their potential. A fantastic contribution to understanding Toronto – and to the power of local recreation in any major city." —David Miller, former mayor of Toronto

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