The session last Saturday (24th) was based around Volleyball but we had some other great activities too. After the warm up led by Ray we played some Parachute games which the kids always love. We then played some games of Rob the Nest but rather than using Rugby balls we used tennis balls instead. We split in to four small groups and the aim was to have the most balls in your nest at the end of each game.

After a drinks break we moved on to Volleyball. We split in to three groups and started by throwing the ball over the bench to teammates on the other side. They would catch the ball and throw it back. That moved on to hitting the ball back and that built up over time to try and get a rally going.

We then moved on to playing small sided games with the benches across the middle of the hall being the net. Three teams took it in turns to play each other.

We finished off with a couple of quick games of Benchball with the group splitting in to two teams rather than three.

Our stars of the week this week were Harry and Hal so congrats to both of you!. We also had another birthday so we all sang Happy Birthday to Pranav at the end of the session. Now that it is half term there is no club this coming Saturday (31st May) but we will back raring to go on June 7th. Have a restful week and see you all again on the 7th.

Better late than never but here are all the photos taken from the session on Saturday 17th May. It was a session based around basketball with skills practice in the hall to start with before going outisde after the break to play some games.

Our stars of the week were Charlotte and Ellis so well done to you both. Also, it was Anand's birthday and as per tradition he brought in a wonderful birthday cake. Happy Birthday Anand!

It was a glorious day on Saturday so it was lovely to get out on to the playground to have a session based around Cricket. We were without Coach Alan so Ray led the session with the help of the birthday boy - Ollie.
We started off with the usual warm up of jogging, skipping and stretches then we paired up for some throwing and catching practice. First it was just throwing and catching but then involved a bounce pass trying to hit a plastic disk set in-between each pair. 

After a quick water break we moved on to some fielding practice using cones and splitting in to four groups. Then that developed in to throwing at the wickets, wicketkeeping and finally batting practice.

After the main break we split in to two teams for some games of three tee cricket.
This is where the batting team each have a turn to hit three tennis balls off of three plastic tees. The fielding team cant move until the final ball is hit but they then have to get the balls back on the tees in their original positions as quickly as possible. The batter meanwhile will try and get as many runs as possible by running between two wickets and only stops when all the balls and tees are back in position.
Each person has one turn at batting and the scores and then totalled before the teams switch over so the fielding team get a chance to bat.
There were two main games that were fiercely contested but I am glad to report each team won one game apiece.

At the end of the session Ollie present the star of the week awards to Kerrie and Joseph before we all sang Happy Birthday to Ollie. 
Join us again next week for more fun and another birthday celebration!

It was really great to be back after the Easter break and we had a fantastic turnout.
Ray led the warm up to get the session started and then it was straight in to the Hockey. We started with some dribbling then passing in pairs before moving on to dribbling around cones and some shooting practice.

After the break we split in to three teams for some small sided games. While two teams played each other the third team practised their dribbling, to one side. In the first game the yellows beat the greens by 4 goals to 2. In the second game the greens beat the blue team by the same scoreline. Then the blue team faced the yellow team and it ended up in a  1-1 draw. There was another round of games but I did not keep up with all the scores.

It was great to be back and even better to get out on the playground for the matches, as the weather improved. The coaches had a really hard job selecting the Star of the Week winners, what with so many attendees and all doing really well. In the end, they gave the awards to Vikram and Theo - well done lads!
Join us again next Saturday for more fun and games!

Hi All, I was not present for last Saturday's session so cant provide an update but I was passed this photo of the group at the end of the session.

From all of us at Epping Forest Sportability Club we hope you have a wonderful Easter holiday. If you are going away we wish you a fabulous time and if you are staying at home that you get plenty of rest and sunshine. Have a great Easter all and see you back on Saturday 26th April.

We were blessed with plenty of sunshine and a great turnout this week at Sportability Club. We therefore took the opportunity to get outside on the playground and centred the session all around Tennis.
Ray led the warm up as usual and then everyone grabbed a tennis racket and ball and we started by just balancing the ball on the racket as we moved around.

We then moved on to bouncing the ball on the racket, keeping it under control as we moved around. Then we paired up taking it in turns to throw to our partner for them to hit back.

We then tried to do a few rallies with each pair trying to hit the ball back to each other with the racket.

After the main break we played some games of Build a Burger. This is where the group break up in to small teams and one by one they add layers to the "burger" layering tennis balls between the rackets. They have to negotiate a course of cones - up and back before adding the next layer. The idea being to get the full stack up and down the court without dropping any of the balls. Very tricky!

We finished off by splitting in to two groups for a series of games of Champion. In this game one of the coaches throws a ball over the net for a member to return. If they manage to return it over the net and get it in to the court without being caught then they are through to the next round. Get caught, fail to get it over the net or hit it outside of the court then they are out. They  then join the coach on the other side of the net trying to catch out the remaining players. The rounds progress until there is only one person left -  the champion!

It was a great session and the coaches, at the end, awarded the Stars of the Week to Swaran and Vikram - well done lads. There were many good performances including Kealan, Harry amongst many others that meant it was not any easy decision. The kids had a lot of fun!
Join us again this coming Saturday for our final session before the end of term and the Easter break.

Update received from Alan on what the gang got up to on Saturday.
The session was all based around Hockey. They started with solo dribbling before moving on to pairs passing then adding passing through cones. Following that they then went in to two groups by splitting the hall. Passing and moving then switching the ball when they heard the call change.
After the break was dribbling and shooting followed by matches using 3 teams. .
Stars of the week were Valentina and Sonny so congrats to you both!

We had a very busy but great session on Saturday based around volleyball.
We started as always with a warm up, led by Ray and the we did some ball work - throwing and catching. We passed a ball around a circle and did other drills before we laid out some benches to act as volleyball nets. We split in to three small groups so that we could start to throw the ball across the net for people on the other side to catch 

we then progressed to hitting the ball back over the net using two hands together, as in volleyball. The more we practiced the more we could try and get a rally going, back and forth across the net.​

We then put all that good practice to use by making the hall in to one big volleyball court and the group splitting in to two teams for some games.

At the end of the session the Stars of the week were announced as Todd and Anand - both of whom were over the moon with their awards. Congratulations lads!
See you all again next week where, weather permitting, we hope to get outside on the playground and maybe do some Tennis.

We started back after the half term break with a great turnout from both staff and members and we were blessed with some good weather as well.
We started out in the hall as Ray led the warm up to get us all going.
The kids then paired up for some throwing and catching to each other. Some used bounce passes, some without bouncing at all, The more adventurous would make the gap between them bigger to make it more difficult.

Alan then set up some sets of stumps at one end of the hall and some cones along the hall. The kids split in to three groups and took part in a fielding drill where they would pick up the ball from the first cone, place it on the second cone, run around the stumps at the far end before picking up the ball and placing back on the original cone on the way back.
After that the drill was changed to include throwing at the stumps. Once you had picked up the ball and thrown at the stumps the wicket keeper would then collect the ball and return it to the cone. The person throwing then becomes the wicket keeper for the next person. Once the wicket keeper replaces the ball on the cone they go back to the end of the line to wait for their next turn.

The last drill was fielding a rolling ball, so in this drill the wicket keeper would roll out the ball to the next person. They had to field it before throwing at the stumps.
After a drinks break we moved on to a game of champions. This is a catching game and the group split in to two with Ollie and Ray leading a group each. It is quite simple. Catch the ball when it is thrown at you and you move up the line a place. Fail to catch the ball on your turn and you go to the bottom of the line. The person at the top of the line at the end of the game is the winner! In Ray's group it was Kerrie who came out on top and in Ollie's group it was Charlotte. Girl power reigns supreme.

After the main break we actually went outside in to the lovely spring sunshine to play some games of three tee cricket. 
The group split in to two teams and they each took it in turns to bat and rack up as many runs as possible. On each players turn they would hit three tennis balls off of three plastic tees. The fielding team are not to move until the last ball is hit. Then the batter scores as many runs as possible in the time it takes the fielding team to get all three balls back on their respective tees.
The games were fast and furious and each team won a game each so we had to have a quick cut down game of 1 tee cricket to get a winning team. It was the team batting second that came out on top, although it did look like they had more people on their team!

It was a lovely session and we all had a lot of fun.
At the end Alan and the coaches awarded the Star of the Week awards to Davina and Kealan for great effort throughout. Well done to you both!
Join us again next Saturday when the main sport will be Rugby.