Big Girl in the Middle

Reece explains that her career as an international model was taking a dive in any case when she abandoned it to play for Team Nike in the Bud Light Professional Beach Volleyball Tour in 1991. At 6'3"" and weighing 175 pounds, she was certainly qualified physically for either calling. Writing with novelist and journalist Karbo (Trespassers Welcome Here), she begins each chapter with a bit of autobiography or an analysis of the female athlete in general andthe ways her own personality equips her for the role. The authors cover the league's 1996 season, from its start in Manhattan Beach, Calif., through New York and the Midwest to Santa Cruz, Calif. And a miserable season it was for Reece's team, with few victories and much changing of personnel in a frantic attempt to land the players who would establish the right chemistry. Yet through it all, we are told, Captain Reece maintained her perspective and her resolve to keep plugging away. This account should give a boost to the morale of female athletes. Photos not seen by PW. Author tour. (July)