By Patrick McGroarty
Reporter Staff

Savin Hill resident Stephen Durant, Ed.D. has been playing rugby since his days at Holy Cross in the 1970s. After thirty years of scrums, one game sticks out in his mind.

"Seven years ago, when my father was 70 and my son was 15, we got them into the same rugby game," said Durant. "I could tell after the game that my son got what I wanted him to get: the camaraderie, the fun. He understood the competition and teamwork."

Those deeper values are at the center of "Whose Game is it, Anyway?" a book Durant co-authored with Richard D. Ginsburg, Ph.D. and Amy Baltzell Ed.D.

The book aims to bring clarity to parents in the often overwhelming world of youth sports and to help them prioritize what they really want their kids to take away from tee-ball and Pop Warner.

"The book is somewhat of a Trojan Horse," said Durant. "If you talk character and sportsmanship to most people, they'll nod their head but their eyes will glaze over and they'll patronize you. If you want to hook them, you've got to talk about performance. You've got to say 'we've got a few tools that will help your kids play better.' The medicine is this will also help your kid be a healthy kid, and a standup guy or girl."

Durant and Ginsburg were already considering writing a book on sports therapy when in 2000 Thomas F. Junta of Cambridge beat Michael Costin, his son's hockey coach, to death outside a Reading ice arena. The tragedy moved Durant and Ginsburg to take action, and with Baltzell's help they started drafting pages.

"By age 21, what do I want my kid's character to look like? asked Durant. "What are the three to five virtues I want my kid to get from sports? This is not a book to point a finger at parents. We're all six-foot bodies with a four-foot blanket, psychologically. You can't cover everything, you can't do it all."

Durant says he found personal inspiration for the book from coaching in the Savin Hill baseball league and as a parent watching his four children play sports through the Daniel Marr Boys and Girls Club.

After almost 20 years of working his kids through organized sports, he remains as much an athlete himself as his children. Fresh out of a workout at McKenna's on Monday afternoon, he scarfed down a Gatorade and grilled cheese- no fries- and talks about a rugby tournament this weekend at West Point.

"I'm trying to milk the end of my rugby career as much as possible. Every game is a gift."

"Whose Game is it Anyway?" is available on Amazon.com and in local bookstores.