I consider myself as an 'old school' educated person adapting (happily) to an ever changing / adapting profession. When I was growing up we learned about team sports and a few individual sports but were not taught the importance of a healthy lifestyle, which includes diet and exercise. Today physical education and health are going through a metamorphosis in that we are trying to teach students the importance of any and all forms of physical fitness. The importance of just getting out there and moving in any way, shape or form is the goal. In a nutshell that is what this book is all about.

This text is a plethora of information. I have lots of experience and resources dealing with the traditional team / individual sports but very little, if any dealing with the new wave of outdoor or indoor activities. This book is loaded! It has all the regular, most popular team sports (football, basketball, volleyball) as well as other activities that I am clueless about (backpacking, karate, self-defense, diving, wrestling) to name just a few.

The book is well organized and is easy reading. There are 704 pages broken down into 43 chapters plus appendixes that include field and court dimensions, Metric & English equivalents, and video resources. Forty-two (42) popular sports / activities are included. The purpose of the book is to provide current fundamental knowledge about a broad spectrum of physical activities. The authors wrote the book for two (2) groups of readers - participants & instructors. The author states, "In general and where appropriate, each chapter proceeds from behavioral objectives, to history, to equipment and facilities, to rules and etiquette, to fundamental skills and techniques, to strategies, to teaching considerations, and finally to ancillary information such as a glossary, suggested readings, and audiovisual materials.

What I like most about this book is what is included at the end of each chapter, the suggested readings, resources, and websites. These are extremely valuable in that they provide additional resources to help learn and teach each activity or sport.

If you are a beginning teacher, like me, and need all the resources you can get your hands on then this is the book for you. It would be an excellent addition to any teacher's library. Overall I liked this book a lot and would give it a five (5) out of five (5) stars.

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