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If Gold Is Our Destiny: How a Team of Mavericks Came Together for Olympic Glory by Sean P. Murray M4B

Plaudits:

A very intriguing and exciting book about the road to an Olympic win and how crucial developing teamwork is to a winning team. Highly recommended. - Library Journal

Sean Murray's deeply reported If Gold Is Our Destiny reveals the inner workings of a team as well as any book I have ever encountered...Terrific sports history! - Glenn Stout, editor of The Year's Best Sports Writing

Two words: Inspiring. Entertaining. It is well written. A terrific read. - Bill Neville, Assistant Coach to the U.S. Men's Olympic Volleyball Team (1984), Head Coach of the Canadian Men’s Olympic Team (1976)

The volleyball world owes a debt of gratitude to Sean Murray for coming up with the idea for this book and following through. And you don't have to be a volleyball fan to love the story. - Lee Feinswog, Publisher, Editor of VolleyballMag.com

Sean Murray, himself a sports psychologist, is the son of one of the team psychologists who played an integral part in shaping a disparate group with no history of success into the team we know about today. - At Home on the Court Blog

Blurb:

In the early 1980s, a golden generation of volleyball players joined the U.S. men's national team. With the Olympics coming to Los Angeles in 1984, the pressure was on to build a winning program around these exceptional athletes.

In If Gold Is Our Destiny, Sean P. Murray shares the incredible story of how a group of free-spirited players and their demanding coach captured the heart of a nation and became one of the greatest indoor volleyball teams of all time. As the team struggled leading up to the Olympics, head coach Doug Beal mandated a highly controversial three-week Outward Bound hike across one hundred miles in the Canyonlands and Abajo Mountains in Utah. Murray details all the internal strife and heartwarming triumphs from this unprecedented trip, as players and coaches learned to cooperate and trust one another. He reveals how the team used this newfound trust to implement an innovative approach to volleyball that changed not only their success on the court but the sport itself on a global scale.

Featuring original interviews with players, coaches, and staff, along with a foreword by three-time gold medal champion Karch Kiraly, If Gold Is Our Destiny delivers an inside look at what it takes for a group of talented individuals to overcome their differences, build a culture of excellence, and become the best in the world.

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