Dr. Matthew Garrett, head of the Sport Management Department at Simpson, released his new book, “Living in the Middle: Developing Reflective Thinkers in Sport” which attempts to give young students entering the sports world a head-start on what to expect.
Garrett began writing his book during the 2020 Covid-19 pandemic. He mentioned purpose of his book is to tell about the mistakes he’s made in his life and get them out for people to read to help them avoid the same mistakes.
“I was really just kind of thinking, gosh, I’ve done some dumb things throughout my entire time as a sports professional, and really looking back when I was younger, too, and how I would do things different. And part of our challenge as persons is to always try to be better,” Garrett said.
Garrett’s senior capstone students are reading his book right now in the hopes it will prepare these students for the next level in the adult world, however, Garrett also shows vulnerability in the book by sharing personal stories.
“You’re going to read some stories that you’re like, gosh I can’t believe Dr. Garrett was a part of something like that. Hopefully, you see that people do grow and that growth is okay as long as we’re acknowledging mistakes,” Garrett said.
The first few chapters focus on negative aspects of the sports world with direct stories from Garrett’s life as examples, but he wants to make sure potential readers know, “It’s not all negatives, there are some positives, and there’s a whole chapter on positive sports stories,” Garrett said.
One senior capstone student, Levi Herrick, is halfway through the book at the time of this interview.
“My initial reaction is that the book mainly contains stories that Professor Garrett has gone through, it’s a lot about his experiences in the sports world from his time just out of college, being an undergrad coach and it just progresses through there,” Herrick said.
The book has four chapters: one on sexual harassment and dating in the workplace, deception, human dignity and the final chapter is about the positive impact of sports. The topics are heavy but can be very important for future sports professionals to be prepared for.
Herrick and the rest of his capstone class will be reading the rest of the book through the end of this semester.
“I’m kind of looking forward to seeing how he progressed through his sports career. Being halfway through the book we’ve kind of read early on in his sports career about the mistakes he’s made and that side of things. So, I’m looking forward to seeing how he grew as a person throughout the book,” Herrick said.
Garrett ultimately wrote this book, not to make himself look like a genius or someone who has always been the perfect sports professional, but as someone who has made mistakes and has grown as a person and as a professional in the sports world.
There will be two opportunities to get a copy of the book and ask him any questions you may have. On Nov. 12 at 6:30 p.m., Garrett will be speaking about his book at Loras College. He will also be doing the same thing at Simpson early next semester.