Secret Warrior: A Coach and Fighter, On and Off the Court

by Joanne P. McCallie

Secret Warrior is a compelling memoir following Joanne McCallie's mental health journey through the realities and challenges within the sports world. Using the recurring theme of "faith over fear" to reduce the stigma associated with impaired mental health and encourage those suffering from mental health issues to reach out-to coaches, student-athletes, and to all people across the world-Joanne offers real direction, experiences, and personal stories to teach and reassure those adversely affected by the dynamics of the mind and body experience. Motivational and heartfelt, Secret Warrior drives home the need for more education, stories, action, and an overall change to the narrative about brain health.

214 pages, Hardcover

Published February 16, 2021

Reviews

[Deborah Reisinger · Rating 3 out of 5]

A heartfelt and brave story about Coach P's struggle with bipolar disorder. 5 stars for her courage in sharing it with others. 3 stars on the narrative itself, which might have benefited from another round of edits. It's hard to keep a story together with a disparate readership. On that note, I recommend this memoir to those in the public eye who have a private story they're scared to tell; to athletes, fans of basketball, and especially women's sports; and to anyone struggling with a mental health disorder/diagnosis. McCallie's compassion and honesty come through clearly throughout the book, if a little plainly.

[Joanne Lannin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Compelling story. So honest and heartfelt. I do believe it will help many young people struggling with mental illness diagnoses like hers.

[Clare Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really wanted to like this book. First of all, Coach P.'s editors should be fired. There were many typos and weird spacing issues. The story telling really jumped around and it made it difficult to follow the message that she was trying to deliver. I understand that she was trying to tell the story of her coaching career, her struggle with bipolar disorder, and her faith, but it was done is such a disjointed way. It would have been better if this was three short books (this was already a short book). I felt that she repeated herself a lot. While I appreciated her honesty, I just wish that someone would have helped her more with the writing of this book.

[Patricia N. McLaughlin · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a public figure in the sports world, McCallie takes a big risk by sharing her struggle with bipolar disorder to raise awareness of mental health issues, reduce the stigma associated with mental illness, encourage the afflicted to seek proper help, and advocate for better treatments and more safeguards for patient privacy. As others have noted, the narrative suffers from a lack of organization, repetition, awkward phrasings, and annoying typos, which detract from McCallie’s important message. Nonetheless, her courage to “out herself” as a “bipolar individual” might encourage others who suffer untreated in silence, especially those in high-profile positions, to seek help and join CoachP’s crusade for mental health advocacy.

[Ken Rowland Jr. · Rating 3 out of 5]

The introduction is great and really hits home explaining some of the issues but then the middle bulk of the book is about her career and how successful she was “even with the disease”. Like it was an afterthought or nuisance just in her way. She didn’t even explain or discuss how Faith played a role until the very last of the book.

[Deborah Sparrow · Rating 3 out of 5]

Courageous story that caught my attention as a former basketball player, Mainer, and person who has experienced a family member struggling with bipolar disorder. Agree that the book would have benefited greatly from better attention to structure and editing.

[Mary · Rating 3 out of 5]

First half bio, 2nd half more thoughts and causes. She sure struggled to be honest, espec about being bi-polar, but she finally opened up. Enjoyed the book, just a little repetitious.
War Eagle! (Hubby) Go Green! (me)
And we both dislike Duke...moved to Wolfpack Territory 😀

[Suzi Morton · Rating 3 out of 5]

I began watching Coach P when I was a young girl and obviously had no idea of her struggles. I enjoyed the book very much from a fan standpoint but numerous typos and fluidity issues made it a hard read overall.

[Matthew Townsend · Rating 4 out of 5]

Must read for anyone that deals with mental health issues.

[Mary Roselli · Rating 1 out of 5]

Brave story. Poorly written including many typos and lack of structure and flow.

[Mary Roselli · Rating 1 out of 5]

Poorly written... great story that just needed some editing to not lose me in bad grammar and punctuation.