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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
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
224 pages, Paperback
Published November 16, 2021
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
November 9, 2023
This was an interesting read. Lots of local stories and the authors own emotion woven into the narrative.
I really appreciated the connections made between sport, policy, public space, and social change more broadly. King also did a really great job of integrating scholarly work done in Toronto (and Canada more broadly) as well as interviews with interesting people related to the sports and communities he analyzed.
At times the prose felt a bit choppy and descriptive. I won’t say it was a page turner. I read it more like a series of essays. In some cases I was left wanting more details and analysis of the issues covered.
The book description (and cover) also mislead you to think that the book is about the pandemic. It’s really only one chapter that gets into this. It doesn’t take away from the book itself, just a strange editorial choice.
I really appreciated the connections made between sport, policy, public space, and social change more broadly. King also did a really great job of integrating scholarly work done in Toronto (and Canada more broadly) as well as interviews with interesting people related to the sports and communities he analyzed.
At times the prose felt a bit choppy and descriptive. I won’t say it was a page turner. I read it more like a series of essays. In some cases I was left wanting more details and analysis of the issues covered.
The book description (and cover) also mislead you to think that the book is about the pandemic. It’s really only one chapter that gets into this. It doesn’t take away from the book itself, just a strange editorial choice.
January 11, 2022
What a fascinating book. A linked series of vignettes and personal stories.
I appreciated that way that this book investigates ‘the relationship between open space, activity, sports, health and what it means to be a citizen’.
King invites the reader to consider how to create a sports culture that reflects the values that Toronto - indeed any community - aspires to: to be accessible, diverse, and multi-faceted.
He explores how policies around, and access to, sports serve to perpetuate systems founded on white supremacy… and the ways that the pandemic has forced us to look at the relationship ‘between public space, equity, health and participation in community sports.’
He also explores the ways in which ethnic leagues and teams fill a void and allow for skills development - building community in the process and, in so doing, presents a vision for how we can de-colonise the city - the communities - that we live in.
Towards the end of the book he quotes Jon Solomon, of the Aspen Institute, who asks: ‘How can sport be used to serve the public interest?’ This book goes a long way towards answering that question.
I know that this book is very specifically focused on Toronto… but it’s about the sport, and about the people… and is applicable far beyond the boundaries of Toronto, or even the GTA. So even if you hate Toronto, read this book
This is one of the most enjoyable ‘sports’ books I’ve read recently.
I appreciated that way that this book investigates ‘the relationship between open space, activity, sports, health and what it means to be a citizen’.
King invites the reader to consider how to create a sports culture that reflects the values that Toronto - indeed any community - aspires to: to be accessible, diverse, and multi-faceted.
He explores how policies around, and access to, sports serve to perpetuate systems founded on white supremacy… and the ways that the pandemic has forced us to look at the relationship ‘between public space, equity, health and participation in community sports.’
He also explores the ways in which ethnic leagues and teams fill a void and allow for skills development - building community in the process and, in so doing, presents a vision for how we can de-colonise the city - the communities - that we live in.
Towards the end of the book he quotes Jon Solomon, of the Aspen Institute, who asks: ‘How can sport be used to serve the public interest?’ This book goes a long way towards answering that question.
I know that this book is very specifically focused on Toronto… but it’s about the sport, and about the people… and is applicable far beyond the boundaries of Toronto, or even the GTA. So even if you hate Toronto, read this book
This is one of the most enjoyable ‘sports’ books I’ve read recently.
January 11, 2022
Perry King weaves a number of individual stories into a tapestry showing how how sports and Toronto's urban life intertwine. It shows how basketball, cricket, ball hockey and nine-man volleyball help build community and enrich lives in communities left behind by the narrative of a hockey-mad country. But it's not excessively romantic, and makes sure to point out where work still needs to be done. As much as anything, this book intertwines sport and the crisis of public space in cities, and I found the ending chapters to be an electrifying vision of hope for a future of engaged, equitable community life.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews