Publication Date: August 15, 2023
A young sports journalist soon learns the toughest hits occur off the field.
Fresh out of journalism school, Blake Kirk lands her dream job as a reporter for her hometown pro football team—the job sure to propel her to the sidelines on network television. But from the first day, double standards and old-school entitlement smack her with the intensity of a defensive line.
Blake’s boss, Johnny, keeps her sidelined with rules that make it hard for her to do her job. He blocks her from interviewing players in the locker room even though other journalists have access. He encourages her to go with coworkers to “bond,” knowing full well they’re taking her to a strip club. Worse still, Johnny may be the one leaving notes on her desk about how great she looks in pants.
Hit after hit, Blake forges on, determined to prove her worth to the team and her journalism peers. But in a world filled with boozy exploits and overblown egos, Blake finds her moral compass wavering after a celebrity tryst. Can Blake realign her professional priorities and expose Johnny’s bullying before her dream job does her in?
Brooke Bentley is a former television anchor and award-winning sports reporter who graduated from the University of Southern California with a master’s in journalism. Through Sideline Confidential, she gives us a glimpse into the challenges women professionals face in the male-dominated world of pro sports.
Blake Kirk nails down her dream job as media coordinator for a professional football team and is itching to get started.
Instead, she finds herself caught up in a web of restrictions, including no locker room access or trips with the team. She’s isolated and treated like a pariah while her boss shuts her down at every turn.
Author Brooke Bentley illustrates the frustrations women face in a male-dominated world with Sideline Confidential. As a main character, Blake displays an eagerness to succeed and takes pride in being part of a sport she loves. However, it’s clear that she has been set up to fail.
Her resilience shows when her personal life suddenly becomes a factor in her job, and she endures unwelcome sexual overtures at work.
Sideline Confidential combines an in-depth, behind-the-scenes look into professional sports and the challenges women face stuck on the sidelines.
Brooke Bentley is a former television anchor and award-winning sports reporter. After graduating with a master’s in journalism from the University of Southern California, she spent two years working for the Houston Texans as a media personality and over a decade working in sports journalism. Brooke now runs a Houston-based grassroots nonprofit, Homemade Hope, that provides culinary enrichment programs to at-risk youth. She and her husband are raising two young boys who dream of visiting outer space.
