New Releases by Travis Mewhirter

Bump, set, and spike your way to volleyball confidence Volleyball For Dummies will help you understand the basics of a sport that's popular around the world. Written by two former pro volleyball players, this book walks you through the rules and scoring systems of both indoor and beach volleyball. Players, coaches, and spectators alike will learn about player positions, core skills and techniques, and levels of play. If you're hitting the court, use this guide to improve your game, with in-depth explanations of proper arm swing, defense, approaching, hitting, digging, passing, serving, blocking, and setting. Plus, you'll find helpful practice drills for yourself and your team. With stories from top players and coaches all about volleyball culture and community, this is a fun and comprehensive introduction to the sport. Get a primer on the basics of volleyball so you can enjoy playing, watching, or coaching the sport Improve your technique with helpful explanations and illustrations of key moves Learn the ins and outs of recreational volleyball, NCAA, semi-professional, Olympic, and international play Peek behind the scenes of pro volleyball and learn what it takes to make it to the top of the game Learn the fundamentals of indoor and beach volleyball, for yourself, your child, your team, or simply as a fan.

Tri had anxiously been waiting for this day throughout the entire school year: The beginning of summer, when his days would be filled with beach volleyball, surfing, and more beach volleyball. But when he signs up for summer beach volleyball at Outrigger Beach with his best friend and partner, Trevor, he discovers the devastating news that Trevor had teamed up with his arch rival, Ricardo.Now Tri, with the help of his tough love Auntie, must befriend a misfit named Travis, building a new team, a new partnership, and a deep friendship that changes his view on beach volleyball, and life.In this first-of-its kind novel, SANDCAST podcast hosts and professional beach volleyball players Tri Bourne and Travis Mewhirter take you through a fictional tale that will inspire, humor, and teach lessons that will last a lifetime.

We see them every four years, these sun-kissed, muscle-bound athletes, shirtless or bikini-clad. How glamorous it must be, to live the life of a professional beach volleyball player, for your office to reside west of the Pacific Coast Highway. Kings of the Beach, they were called once, these professional beach volleyball players. And indeed, they lived up to the name - sponsors! Endorsements! Commercials! Millions in prize money. Icons to a rebel culture.Yet when the Summer Olympics come to a close, beach volleyball disappears from the public eye, and what the rest of the world fails to see once again becomes reality: It is a remarkable struggle, a wondrous grind, to live the life of a professional beach volleyball player. It is cramming six to a one-bedroom apartment, of sleeping under piers before tournaments, of stealing sandwiches from the players tent to save an extra buck. It is the pressure of winning a tournament just to make rent or, for that matter, just to afford the next meal. It is flying to a tournament in Shanghai, not knowing if you'll be able to feed your wife and newborn when you return, all in the hopes of keeping the beach dream alive.Featuring interviews and arresting accounts of more than 100 beach volleyball players, award-winning writer and professional beach volleyball player Travis Mewhirter tells the stories, for the first time, of the modern player, lifting the curtain for the inside story of life as a professional beach volleyball player, and the pursuit of being a King of the Beach once more.

The Last 18 is a story of a mother and her two sons, and the bonds between a family that cannot be broken, no matter the ailment. It explores the question: What would you do if you had two months left with a loved one? Do you make their final days comfortable, normal, routine? Act like nothing was different or wrong, like so many request? Or do you attempt the fantastic, the amazing, the miraculous?

Basketball and life are one of the same in the hoops-mad town of Gaithersburg. And for good reason. The Covenant Prep girls team is one of the best in the state, led by the mighty Lyla Storm, who may be the best player in the country. She has the college offers and records to prove it. The boys, too, are championship-caliber, having finished second in the state just a year ago while returning the majority of their top players. Both could realistically win the title. And then, quick as a hiccup, devastating as an Earthquake, the town's world comes crashing down. Prep's legendary basketball coach, Bill Stottlemyer, passes away, leaving his son, Kevin, the team's star point guard, wondering if it's really all worth it, playing this game. He couldn't play, not without Coach. The community is shaken - and then shaken again, when Tara French, a player on the girl's team, is hit by a car, leaving Lyla, her best friend, wondering, too, if it's really all worth it. She couldn't play, not without Tara. The town couldn't disagree. How could they ask its two young stars to play a game in the wake of such tragedy? But they needed something, anything, to provide an escape from the specters that hung over Gaithersburg. Basketball became their collective source of refuge. So play they did, in a season that became less about the wins and losses, points and box scores, and more about life, and how sports can so often help us get through it. And the simple sport of basketball became far more than a game.