Roger Greenaway reviews Junkyard Sports

"...All sports started out as fun. Then they got organised. And during their transformation into sports with rules, competitions, prizes and professionals, much of the fun disappeared.

"For those familiar with the 'Cooperative Sports' or 'New Games' movements this is not a new message. What is new is the idea of getting participants to design new games that they can then enjoy playing and adapting as they go. The idea of adapting popular sports provides a handy short cut - and appeals to the subversive in us all.

"Because Junkyard Sports encourages players' own creativity, the process described in the opening pages could lead to hundreds of new games. Just in case they don't, you will find that most of the book is dedicated to describing ready-made and ready-to-play games - 77 games in all. These are called 'demonstration' games. This active initiation into Junkyard Sports inspires participants to create and try out their own games.

"The game titles give you the flavour: Ad Hoc Golf Soccer, Everybody Has a Ball Hockey, Goodminton, Hide-and-Seek Hockey, Musical Basketless Basketball, Spoon Football, Wheelchair Doubles Basketball.

"The games can be played for pure fun. The author also sees plenty of scope for achieving many worthy goals through Junkyard Sports and provides many tips on how games can be made more inclusive - by the participants, and by a few cunning rule changes. For example, games normally played between two sides can be played by three sides or one side. Or you can add extra balls, or add a goal, or add a rule, or take a rule away or borrow a rule from another game.

"It may be difficult to imagine how you could possibly get the people you are thinking of to play such strange games. But if you follow the process described in the opening pages, this is never an issue - because participants themselves create the games they want to play. There's lots of interesting teamwork already going on before the game 'officially' begins. And if you want to focus on teamwork, you will find some useful suggestions about this here.

"The book has a youth and community work feel to it, but with a tweak here and there the concept and the tips for game design will be of interest to people who are looking for new ideas for team development exercises - especially if you also want to develop creativity and break the mould.

"My faith in the principles underlying this book are based on my own experiences with a similar game-making process. I would never have thought of asking a group of philosophers to play a game of three-legged three-sided soccer. But that was the game they created for themselves - in the peaceful grounds of a Quaker meeting house last summer. Not only did they enjoy the creative process, they also enjoyed playing a game of their own making. (The game making and playing generated plenty of reviewable experiences!)

"Whether you buy the book for fun or for work, you will find that you can use it for both. One thing that is guaranteed is that whatever people end up playing, they won't have played it before. The author captured the essence of game-playing in his book 'The Well-Played Game'. That spirit and wisdom lives on in 'Junkyard Sports'. 'The Well-Played Game' is wonderfully thought-provoking, whereas 'Junkyard Sports' is more 'game-provoking' - with the introductory words of wisdom squeezed into a 30 page prelude to the 130 pages of demonstration games.

"My only criticisms are that 'The Well-Played Game' was a bit short on practical ideas and 'Junkyard Sports' is a bit thin on explaining the thinking that has inspired these games. Read them both and you have perfect partners."

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