The Novel One Shot at Forever, is a classic novel about a high school baseball team from rural Illinois. All they had was hand-me-down jerseys and a rag tag group of kids. The novel One Shot at Forever, is an extremely easy read. This novel was meant to speak out to young adults and high school student, and that is why this novel is so easy to understand. This small town high school, and their underdog team, reaches out to many low income and rural kids across America. There is no escaping reality in this book because it is based on an actual team and story. The Macon Ironmen is a real team and a team that many can look onto for inspiration. One Shot at Forever, manages to make athletes all over go back and think about their own teams and coaches and careers. Chris Ballard, the author, manages this by showing the real life problems that low income school sports go through on a daily basis. This true story touches home with many teenage athletes giving it such a real feeling.

All across America there are small school that no one has ever heard of or seen. Heck, maybe someone reading this is actually a part of a school just like that. Having a winning team in a low income school is next to impossible. This struggles that Chris Ballard portrays of this low income school and community really reflect that hardships that many schools like Macom High go through. Chris Ballard shows real world problems such as no field maintenance or no water for the grass that all rural no income schools go through. In the Novel, Chris develops a complex character named “Sweet”. His different views on society and his amazing ability to find a way to not belong all make him a complex character. All these examples show how One Shot at Forever, reflects so many Americans reality.

Chris Ballard paints amazing pictures in the reader’s mind of torn down old baseball fields that the Ironmen play on throughout their season. He uses vivid imagery to describe the broken down chain link fences surrounding the field and also the un-natural clothing that some of the players wear to practice. Chris Ballard also displays his artistry through his ability to get across to the reader the importance of the relationship between a coach and his players. While reading one can really tell Chris Ballard believes that a coach can change a player’s life. Through the telling of the relationships between the players and Mr. Sweet, Chris always stays consistent throughout his novel. Characters like Sweet never change and never take any bizarre shifts. The plot of an underdog story never changes and the plot is never disrupted.

In my own personal beliefs, I think that the relationship between an athlete and his couch is a bound that will last with that kid for the rest of his life. As a baseball player, Chris Ballard is spot on in his views on coach to athlete relationships. I also think everyone loves an underdog story and One Shot at Forever, is just that. This novel gives exceptional insight as to what baseball and coaching should be all about. Chris Ballard pushes the importance of having fun on the field, and building relationships with teammates.