by C. Grooms & Bobby May
A nonfiction sports book examining basketball, pressure, and the systems young athletes must navigate.
For the Love of the Game is an essential nonfiction book that examines basketball as a pathway, a pressure point, and a reflection of real life. Drawing from lived experience inside grassroots basketball, elite competition, and educational spaces, the book offers an honest look at what young athletes face long before the dream becomes real.
Through the journeys of three young men, the story explores how talent can open doors while also exposing athletes to expectations, influence, and systems that are often invisible to those watching from the outside. Family responsibility, loyalty, financial pressure, institutional power, and personal accountability collide as opportunities grow and consequences become unavoidable. This is not a highlight-reel story, and it does not promise easy outcomes. Instead, it focuses on decision-making, integrity, mentorship, and the realities behind the business of sports.
The book was shaped by the combined lived experiences of co-authors C. Grooms and Bobby May, both of whom spent years inside the worlds of competitive athletics, education, and youth development. Drawing from firsthand exposure to recruiting culture, institutional decision-making, and the off-court realities young athletes must navigate, the authors wrote this book to reflect what is often left unsaid. The characters, situations, and themes are informed by real moments, real pressure, and real consequences, giving the story its authenticity and purpose.
The text is intentionally written at a 6th-grade reading level to ensure accessibility for all readers, while the themes and discussions remain rigorous and meaningful. As a result, For the Love of the Game works both as an engaging independent read and as an instructional resource for classrooms, programs, and group discussion across Grades 6–12 and beyond. It is essential reading for students, educators, parents, coaches, and anyone seeking a deeper understanding of sports, life, and the choices that shape legacy long after the final whistle.
C. Grooms & Bobby May are educators who use sports as a lens to explore life, pressure, and real-world decision making.
They write to document reality and not romanticize it. With academic training spanning Deviant Behavior and Social Control, Sports Management, Media and Communications, American Studies, Forensic Psychology, and Criminal Justice, they bring both research and lived experience to their work. The books function as educational tools disguised as compelling narratives that are condensed into easy-to-read material. Their writing examines how institutional systems extract value from communities, how young people navigate barriers with incomplete information, and how power actually operates in tiered structures. For the Love of the Game, co-authored with Bobby May, documents the intersection of grassroots basketball, the music industry, and the realities of life through three protagonists learning that intelligence and strategy matter more than talent alone. Every book that will enter this bookstore is an extension of the research, lived experience, and critical thinking implementation that has been documented over decades. When you buy direct from this bookstore, you get books that treats readers as intelligent enough to handle the truth without the moral high ground.
by C. Grooms & Bobby May