Basketball was the main sport of the session this week at Epping Forest Sportability Club.
Due to school fetes and pantos turnout was low but that didn't stop us from having a fun and varied session. Ollie and Alan started with warm ups including some ball control with the basketballs and also a game of Mr Wolf. Once they were ready to go it was straight in to some ball dribbling practice using the lines on the school hall as a guide.
From there we had a few quick Traffic Light games where a red light means Stop with the ball, amber (yellow) means bounce the ball from side to side on the spot and green means full on dribbling with the ball around the hall. 

Next up we had a shooting drill making use of the baskets at either end of the hall. The kids lined up to shoot and once they had taken their turn they collected their ball and joined the end of the queue for the basket at the other end of the hall. This then formed a kind of circle allowing the kids to practice their dribbling and shooting without having to wait too long for the next turn.

Before they stopped for a drinks break the kids had just enough time to play some one on one games. When Ollie shouted Go two kids would race up the hall away from the basket. They had to go around the cones as they went and on getting to the far end Ollie would throw the ball in. It was then a battle to see who would be the first to score. So a mix of attack and defence depending on who had the ball at the time.
After the drinks break we put all the practice to good use by playing some matches - blues versus reds. As you can see in the photos below it was energetic and lively and great fun.

We then switched sports to Boccia with the Blues led by Kate up against the Reds led by Ollie. Due to some fantastic shots by Liam and Joseph the Reds won quite comfortably.

We then stopped for the main break. After, as Liam and Kerrie had to go off to see a panto (oh yes they did!) which left us with just a few people left, we wrapped up the session with some games of Indoor Curling.

The main sport we played this week at Epping Forest Sportability Club was Badminton but the kids loved the Archery so much they asked to play it again!
The session started, as always, with some warm up routines consisting of some jogging around the hall then playing some tag games such as What's the Time Mr Wolf?
It was then on to the badminton starting with hitting the shuttlecock up in the air and doing Keepy-Uppy's, like in football.​

The group then moved on to playing across the nets. They paired up trying to get some good rally's going. They then switched around playing partners if they wished.

After the break the kids really wanted to play some more Archery - as they enjoyed it so much last week. How could we say no? So out with the bows and arrows and the targets and more fun was had by all.

Alan and Ollie kicked off the session this week with a warm up including some jogging around the hall, hopping, moving side to side and finally some tag games of What's the Time Mr Wolf.
It was then straight on to some Archery. Kate, Ollie and Alan reminded / instructed the kids how to hold the bow and load the plastic arrows and off they went taking it in turns to try and get as high a score as they can. There was some impressive performances and some bullseyes scored as well.

The kids loved the archery so much that they wanted to carry on after a drinks break. According to Head Coach Al they showed a fantastic ability to hit the target consistently and there were many notable performances. Valentina's stance when holding the bow and aiming her arrows was perfect. Kealan fired off arrows with great consistency, hitting the target regularly but special mention must go to Callum who was first to get a Bullseye but also ended up with the highest individual score of 70! Well done!

After the main break the younger ones got the chance to go to the ball pool, as we had Teagan helping out as well as Kate. The older kids took part in some games of Boccia in the hall followed by some Curling games.

We had a really good turnout for our first session back after the Half Term break and Alan, Ollie and Kate led a session loosely based around Handball.
As always the session started with a warm up to get everyone going. This consisted of some jogging around the hall then a game where they have to run and touch all the lines on the court. They then played tag games including What's the Time Mr Wolf?
Once everyone was warmed up the group paired up across the hall from each other and were throwing and catching between each other. They started with a bounce pass to each other catching and throwing back. Then a target was added in the middle to try and hit. Finally, a ball on a cone was added in the middle for the kids to aim at, trying to hit it off. This was obviously to try and improve the aim when throwing the ball.

​The coaches then came up with a great game whereby the group were split in to two groups. They then took it in turns to walk along a bench balancing. When they reached the end they had to throw their ball towards some numbered cones. The aim being to hit the cones with the highest value. This tested their balancing and throwing skills.

After the main break all the skills the kids had been practising were put to good use in some games of Handball and Dodgeball. Handball being much like football but with the hands (obviously) and this means passing the ball up the court between team mates before shooting for goal. This relies on accurate throwing and clean catching.
Dodgeball on the other hand is all about not getting hit by a soft ball thrown by one of the opposing team from their half of the court.  There are many balls in play so the action is fast and furious and you need to have eyes in the back of your head not to get hit!. On the offence side you need to be able to throw fast and accurately to try and hit an opposition member and it is all the better if you catch them off guard.​

As the new NBA season gets underway in the States we devoted our session to the sport of Basketball. Before we got on to the Basketball the kids went through a very varied warm up session led by Alan and Ollie. It started with some gentle jogging around the school hall. This was followed by moving side to side, hopping, some hopscotch and a game of What's the Time Mr Wolff. There was even a drill that sounds like it came from a Rugby practice ground called "1-2-3-scoop" - I am reliably informed this meant taking three steps to the right followed by a scooping motion (much like passing a rugby ball) then repeating it going to the left. Probably just the sort of drill the England team practice on their way to thrashing the All Blacks!
With the warm up done and dusted each kid grabbed a basketball and we got some skills practice underway.

As you can see in the photos above they started with dribbling the ball with each hand and then both hands. The coaches then got to them to focus on accuracy by dribbling the ball along the lines on the hall floor. Ollie then led a traffic light ball dribbling game and the last exercise was to throw the ball in the air, clap your hands as many times as you could before catching the ball again. It was then time for a well earned drink. 

The basketball resumed with some bouncing of the ball both low and high. It is actually very hard to keep the ball under control when bouncing the ball close to the ground. Bouncing high is not much easier either and it is not unusual to lose control. From there the kids moved on to moving the ball around their waists and then around their legs, on the floor.
Alan then led a drill called "Puppy in the Park" where cones were laid out around the hall in a series of gates. The kids then had to dribble the ball around the course without straying on to the road and staying within the gates. They then had a similar routine performing a dribble around a figure of eight.

Before the main refreshment break the kids moved on to practice some shooting, both individually and in pairs. As a pair they would move down the hall passing to each other before shooting. If the initial shooter missed the basket then the partner got the rebound and the next shot. There were then some one on one games with the coaches pairing up players of similar abilities to take on each other with the first to score a basket being the winner. 

We had a mixed bag in terms of sports and activities at Epping Forest Sportability Club this week. After the now usual warm up of jogging followed by Tag Games including What's the Time Mr Wolf, it was on to a cones game. Loads of cones were distributed across the school hall floor, some face up and some face down. The group were split in two with one team trying to get as many turned face down whilst the other team were the opposite in trying to get them all turned face up.

We then moved on to a Golf putting game with the aim of putting through the cones to a hoop at the end. From there the game changed to one where kids working on their own or in a pair took it in turns to putt to try and hit as many cones as possible from the far end of the hall. The ones they hit they collected. The game continued until all cones were hit and then they were counted up. It was a close game but with one team winning in the end by a comfortable margin - Valentina & Hal scored 16 cones, Callum 10, Kerrie 10, James 9 and Zakaa 5.

After the break we moved on to Curling with kids pairing up to try and get as many stones in to the circle at the far end of the hall as possible. As you can see in the photos below Todd and Joseph managed to get all four of their red stones in to the circle which is a fantastic achievement!

The warm up this week was led by Kate with Ollie helping some of the younger kids. As you can see in the photos below we started with some stretching before some jogging around the hall. A couple of Tag games followed - the kid's favourite "Whats the Time Mr Wolf" followed by the classic Tag game of trying to get from one end of the hall to the other without being tagged.
Once all the kids were nicely warmed up it was on to some Cricket themed activities.

We started the main part of the session with some Throwing and Catching in pairs. This then turned in to a game where if you dropped a catch you dropped to one knee. Drop another catch and you were on to both knees. Another dropped catch and it was one arm behind the back as well. One last dropped catch and you were out and your opponent wins the game.
From there they played a different throwing and catching game called Champion. All the kids lined up and Kate took it in turns to throw the ball to each child. If they caught it they moved up the line but if you dropped it then down the line you went. At the end the person at the top of the line is crowned the Champion and in our game, it was won by Charlotte!

After a break for some rehydration the kids moved on to a drill focusing around throwing at wickets. As you can see in the photos below it involved the kids running and picking up a ball off a tee and then throwing at the wicket. There were tees set at different distances to test the aim and throwing ability of the kids.
Following the throwing practice the kids switched to some batting practice with the kids batting balls off of tees.​

After the main break they played a game of Three Tee Cricket which somehow ended up in a 97 point draw between the teams. The session the concluded with another game of Champion which was once again won by Charlotte!
The star of the week went to one of our newer members but unfortunately we are not able to have photographs of them so no picture I am afraid but very well done anyway. 
A special mention also has to go out to Callum and his mum, it was Callum's birthday last week and he brought in some lovely cakes which made the break time so much nicer! Many thanks and a very happy birthday Callum!
We hope to see you all again this coming Saturday for more fun and excitement.

With Ray now off for two months to cycle around Cyprus, for charity, it was down to Alan, Ollie and Kate to run the session in the hall and this week the sport played was Hockey.
After a warm up of stretches it was time to grab a plastic hockey stick each and a tennis ball and start off by dribbling the ball around the hall, with the stick.

The gang then played a traffic lights game to utilise the skills they had practised. This included moving the ball from side to side on a yellow traffic light and moving around the  hall on a green light. 
From there the coaches added cones to the mix asking the kids to dribble through gates - pairs of cones and then around a figure of 8 course. The last activity before a break was to dribble up a slalom course before shooting between a pair of cones

With the Rugby World Cup in full flow now in Tokyo what else could we play this week but our own games of Rugby. We welcomed a lot of new faces to the session this week, and it is always good to see new members.
We started off with a warm up game of Tag followed by some Parachute games - as it was so successful last week.

It was then out with the Rugby balls and to start with they worked in pairs passing to each other. They then formed a circle and started passing around to each other. That developed in to one player trying to run around the outside of the cricle faster than the kids could pass the ball within it.
From there the coaches had the kids running through the cones with the ball, moving the ball around the body, then passing while they were running. Finally they passed the ball to each other over & under and side to side, so in a line they either passed backwards through their legs, over their heads or around their bodies to the side.​

After the break we played a Tag Rugby game, Dragon's Den, where one player runs down the hall to collect a ball and then tries to get back 'home' without getting tagged by the 'dragon'. All the kids got involved and were enthusiastic showing a great level of skill.

In what may have been the last sunny day of the year we spent the majority of the session outside enjoying the great weather. Ollie and Ray started off things with a jog around the playground for a warm up followed by some stretching. They then led a Parachute game with the aim being to keep a ball in the middle of the parachute. The kids love  this game and it is a great team event, it was also the perfect way for a new member to get acquainted with everyone at the club - welcome Hetti!

The main sport during Saturday's session was tennis and they started off by grabbing a racket and ball each and trying to balance the ball whilst going around cones. They then moved on to hitting the ball up in the air on their racket and  then hitting down, bouncing between racket and the ground. A few more slalom races and a traffic light game followed. Liam and Charlotte get a special mention from the coaches for their fantastic work during this part of the session.​ ​

After break the group went on to play King of the Court. This is where the aim is to return a ball thrown over the net with your racket. You must return it back in to the server's court and also not get caught, otherwise you are out and join the server trying to catch the others out. The winner of the game was Justin -very well done, and there was some great serving from Hal and Kerrie. 
To finish the session the group went into the hall for a game of Boccia.​

Our Star of the Week award went to Justin for some fantastic effort and skill throughout the session, especially in the Tennis. Well done Justin! He is one of our newer members and settled in really well as you can see in all the photos.
Join us again next Saturday for more fun and action! 




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