“On Her Game: Caitlin Clark and the Revolution in Women’s Sports” by Christine Brennan

c.2025, Scribner, $29.99, 272 pages

Nice girls do not wave their arms over their heads.

That’s what great grandma might’ve said. Nice girls don’t run, either, unless they’re in danger. Nice girls don’t shout, they don’t sweat, and they don’t push. And in the new book “On Her Game” by Christine Brennan, millions of fans are glad great grandma was wrong.

Thirty-seven words.

That’s all it took for Title IX, passed by Congress in 1972, to protect the rights of millions of women and girls to play sports equal to that of their male counterparts. Without trying hard, you can probably name 10 female athletes who benefited from it; in fact, says Brennan, a large majority of women in C-suite positions in America played sports when younger, thanks to that federal law which is essential to the story of Caitlin Clark.

Born in January 2002, Clark was the child of parents who encouraged competition with her brothers and who fully supported her ambitions. She was also a product of Iowa, where Brennan says a rich legacy of basketball exists, where farm girls shoot hoops by the barn after chores, and where folks support their hometown girls’ teams as much as they support their boys.

Still, Clark stood out.

In the beginning, says Brennan, Clark played everything from soccer to golf and she excelled at each one. She wasn’t even in first grade when she announced that she wanted to play basketball but there were no girls’ teams, so she joined a boys’ team that her father was coaching. Doing so made her tougher and helped her mental game; it didn’t hurt that she also had dozens of women athletes as inspiration – women who enjoyed Title IX for the legal right to play sports.

Clark, says Brennan, has a preternatural ability to spot opportunity on the court. Absolutely, she’s a fan favorite. But you might be surprised to learn that Clark’s career nearly took a very different path…

In mid-2022, Brennan writes, Clark was on her radar but sports-reporter Brennan wasn’t much of a follower. Around that time, she says, she wrote an article on Title IX (which crops up frequently here) and Clark’s name wasn’t even mentioned. But, Brennan writes, everything changed in less than a year.

That honest personability is truly appealing here; another things fans will like is the easy way that Brennan shares her observations gained by following Clark around for six weeks. It’s lighthearted, eager, and fun to read; she obviously enjoyed her time with Clark, but not so much that Brennan ignores any Clark-based controversy that’s cropped up in the last two-and-a-half years. For die-hards, admirers, and haters, admissions like that can go both ways – although most readers will be happy for the balance.

You don’t necessarily have to be a basketball fan to enjoy “On Her Game.” Brennan does a good job explaining the finer points for your clarity. Already-fans and new converts to the sport, though, will want this book ASAP. If that’s you, raise your hand.