Keli Stennes is 16 and the best volleyball player in her small Oregon town. When a chance opens at Dallas High, she has to decide whether to leave her school, her friends, and the place she knows to pursue a bigger dream.

Tryouts, a new team, a smaller first role, pressure, and changing friendships test Keli along the way. Her season becomes a story about learning, belonging, courage, and finding the strength to keep going.

The volleyball matters to the story, but players can connect with Keli’s choices and relationships far beyond the gym.

Players may recognize the tryout nerves, the pressure to earn a place, the uncertainty of a changing role, and the way teammates can lift each other up - or make a hard day harder.

Keli’s journey gives the team a story to discuss together. It can open conversations about effort, coachability, confidence, friendship, and what it means to keep working when the opportunity feels uncertain.

We hope you’ll find Can I Play? to be a story your team can see itself in.

Read sample chapters ↗

When everyone reads the same book, the team has a common starting point for talking about effort, roles, communication, leadership, and adversity.

• It gives the team a shared story. Keli’s tryouts, changing roles, friendships, and pursuit of a dream give players common moments to talk about.
• It supports growth beyond volleyball skills. The story brings up confidence, coachability, perseverance, and belonging.
• It opens conversations naturally. Coaches can use situations in the book to discuss communication, leadership, pressure, and how teammates support one another.
• It helps players understand different perspectives. Teammates can see how the same challenge may feel different depending on a player’s role, experience, or confidence.

The main goal of a Can I Play? Team Read is to help coaches build the mental side of volleyball and strengthen team culture through a shared story.

The Team Read package is currently $99.00 for 12 copies of Can I Play?, with free shipping.

The Can I Play Team Guide is a 14-page Coach Guide that steps you through the program.

• A quick start and suggested reading plan for six to nine weeks.
• 100 coach questions and answers arranged in story order.
• Use Can I Play to connect with your teams and players in your discussions about team culture.
• A captain leadership sheet, team score tracker, and quick reference to the people in the story.

The guide is for the coach. Players only see questions from chapters the team has already read.