Appreciating Differences - Jack Falt - Ottawa area, Ontario, Canada

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Book Review by Jack Falt

Gillies, Cliff, The Sports Management Journal for Families, Coaches and Kids, Wilsonville, OR: BookPartners, Inc., 1999, ISBN1-885221-97-5, 179 pp. True Colors test and cards.

This book was written by one of the co-authors of the previous book and is a companion to it. While the previous book had a more narrative style, this book is more in point form and has check lists and assessment forms for parents and their children to enable them to choose the best sport for them. It helps individuals determine their key values in relation to sport and family life. The last section has numerous copies of all the relevant worksheets: equipment and supply list, inventory of interest and rating of each activity, preseason information, parent progressive/postseason evaluation, character assessment, memorable moments, True Colors character-building chart, team family meeting, phone tree record, and team family schedule.

A valuable part of the book is the True Colors cards and the word clusters ranking quiz based on sports values. This helps determine the True Colors (temperament) of the child. However, the words on the cards and in the ranking quiz are at a level that would be more for the senior elementary or high school student. This is followed up by a description of children of each colour, points on how they are likely to be as children, as athletic children, their needs as athletes, and keys to intervening and disciplining the children based on temperament.

This could be a valuable resource for both parents and coaches in helping them organize themselves, and help young people also get organized and get the most out of their sporting experience. For True Colors and temperament facilitators here is a resource to use when working with children or developing leadership in coaches and improving parenting skills.

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List of Articles by Jack Falt