In our award-winning book, “Bash And Lucy Fetch Confidence,” a wise but mischievous Golden Retriever instills confidence in the boys on a soccer team.

Our “Bash and Lucy” book is the recipient of a Mom’s Choice Silver Award and a 2013 USA Best Book Award. As the book’s authors, we were featured on the Today Show.

So, is it hard to believe that a dog could actually help kids on a soccer team? Dogs and sports don’t mix, right?

Let us explain.

In the book, the main character, Bash, a young soccer player, feels more comfortable when his dog, Lucy, is close by. But the coach sends the dog home. As a result, the kids on the team try to explain to Coach why they need Lucy: She kisses them after they make mistakes, and makes them laugh. She also happens to be an expert ball catcher, which inspires them.

In short, she instills confidence in the players by being positive and loving—and boosting their spirits when they’re down. And, as the coach says at the end of the book, when he finally understands, “I get it, guys. With Lucy close by, you feel happier and confident. And confident players go to the top.”

The idea for the book was actually inspired by the work of one of our relatives, Dr. Patrick Cohn of Peak Performance Sports. His programs focus on what parents need to do to build confidence in sports. Kids need to feel safe, comfortable, and supported by those around them. And that’s just what a dog does!

In our next book, we’ll have a special needs boy and his service dog interact with Bash and his soccer buddies. We won’t tell you exactly what will happen, but we can guarantee you it will be about what dogs do to make sports kids feel safe and happy!

Patrick Cohn recently backed our Kickstarter project, which will fund our next dog-and-sports book and thank all the enthusiastic kids who have helped us generate ideas for it.

Sports kids can take part in our project! Kids are invited to help us generate ideas for our next dog-in-sports book. We’ll thank them in the book, and ensure they get a copy. They can do this individually or as part of a class or team. We generally communicate with kids via Skype. Email us at BashAndLucy@gmail.com and we’ll sign you up to participate. There’s no cost involved in this; we value kids’ feedback.

We’d love to have more sports kids participate in this fun and rewarding project!

Learn more about us by visiting www.BashAndLucy.com Email us with any questions that come to mind! BashAndLucy@gmail.com