By: Alex Smith
In A Road No One Traveled — Side Effects of Coaching, seasoned coach Raymond Kiddy goes beyond game-day tactics and final scores to unveil something much more profound. He gives us an intimate look into the private moments that go unreported, the heartaches that don’t make the news, and the emotional toll that comes with giving your life to young athletes.
What begins as a recounting of a particularly traumatic girls’ football season at Bishop Walsh School in 2017 swiftly transforms into a potent examination of loss, devotion, and what it means to lead in the face of unthinkable hardship. In addition to suffering a series of defeats on the pitch, Coach Kiddy and his team also suffered losses that are incalculable on a scoreboard: the untimely death of a player’s mother, the unexpected death of a teammate’s younger brother, and the death of a teammate’s grandmother—each heartbreak building on the one before it.
In the midst of this emotional storm, Kiddy doesn’t romanticize the struggle. He confronts it directly. His work is blunt, open, and filled with the sardonic humor and ruthless candor of someone who has witnessed it all. He isn’t afraid to speak out about structural issues in youth sports, such as the emotional toll that real life takes on coaches and players when they can’t take a break for a game or the politics of Catholic school administration.
This memoir, however, is not solely about loss. It is also about change. Kiddy recounts his path from a small-town boy in Lonaconing, Maryland, to a teacher, coach, and ultimately headmaster as he looks back on more than 40 years of coaching. His early days of planning backyard carnivals and sandlot football to raise money for team jerseys reveal the beginnings of a coach who was always interested in the children and never in the spotlight.
What makes A Road No One Traveled stand out is its deeply human perspective. Kiddy doesn’t position himself as a hero or an expert. He is simply a man who gave everything he had, whether that was his time, energy, heart, and faith to the game and to the young people who played it. He admits mistakes, questions decisions, and lets us in on his doubts, his exhaustion, and the moments where all he could do was cry with his players.
For coaches, teachers, parents, and anyone who’s ever mentored youth, this book hits home. It’s a reminder that the sideline isn’t just a place for shouting plays, it’s where real life shows up uninvited, where leadership is tested, and where the most important work has nothing to do with winning.
Raymond Kiddy’s memoir is not polished for perfection. It is real, unfiltered, and written from the gut. It reminds us that coaching is less about tactics and more about humanity. It’s about showing up again and again, no matter how heavy the season gets. And this is exactly why we recommend everyone to at least once go through the trauma, change, and experience of being a coach by grabbing a copy of Raymond Kiddy’s book ‘In A Road No One Traveled — Side Effects of Coaching’
To connect with the author or learn more please visit: www.raykiddy.com
Or email at connect@raykiddy.com.
