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This week was the turn of basketball as the main sport to be played, which is always a favourite with the kids. We started with a warm up as usual and then the basketball started with practising some basic skills so first up was bouncing a ball with one hand then switching to use the other hand once instructed. This soon moved on to bouncing between hands, so using alternate hands each bounce. Lastly the coaches asked them to control the ball whilst bouncing it as high as possible, then as low as possible. Using these skills they then played a Traffic Light game led by Ollie but ably assisted by Liam. When the red cone was held up that meant stand still on the spot holding your ball. Yellow was bouncing the ball on the spot and green meant move around the hall bouncing the ball. The last to do the instruction at each "switch" would be out. After all that activity it was then time for a quick drinks break. After the drinks break the practice continued with a Slalom course to navigate around a layout of cones. From there the coaches then incorporated moving the ball around the body during the slalom run. There then followed some shooting practice. With two nets, one at either end of the hall, it was easy to set up a circuit so the kids queued to take a shot at one end and once they had their shot they passed the ball to the next shooter and then went to join the line for shooting at the other end of the hall (and so on). After the main break for drinks and snacks we finished off the session with some 1 vs 1 games before playing a full team game. The one vs one games consisted of the kids starting under a net. On the whistle they then ran to the other end of the hall where the ball would be thrown in by a coach and then it was first to come back down the hall and score a basket. Even if you gained control of the ball initially once you had a shot the ball was back in play if you missed so the other player would likely to be waiting to grab the ball and have a shot themselves. By this stage of the session the younger ones were screaming for some time to play in the ball pool so Ollie and Teagan took some of them down for the last half hour or so.  At the end of the session the coaches conferred and awarded the star of the week to Charlotte. Basketball is her favourite sport and she always excels when we play it. Well done to Charlotte!
I unfortunately wont be there this Saturday as I will be in Brussels for the day - if I get the chance I will sort out Brexit while I am there too! Enjoy the session which will be based around football - weather permitting. Although a very popular sport it is not one we play a lot of so come along and join in. It was great to be back after half term and with the weather feeling more like spring than winter we had our first session of tennis of the year. The day started, as always, with a warm up led by Ray and Ollie - this involved a game of What's the time Mr Wolf and another tag game. Then it was out with the tennis rackets and balls and first up each child had to practice balancing the ball on the racket as they moved around the hall. This then progressed to bouncing the ball on the racket as they moved. Lastly they then switched to hitting the ball downwards so bouncing the ball between racket and floor as they moved we then went on to play a traffic lights game led by Ollie. When Ollie held the red cone aloft it meant stand still and balance your ball on your racket. Yellow cone meant bounce the ball on the racket whilst standing still but a green cone meant go and that meant bouncing the ball whilst on the move around the hall. Next up was a Slalom course. Ray and the team laid out lanes up the length of the hall. They kids then had to go along the course going around the cones. To start with it was just balancing the ball as they moved but then it got trickier as they were then asked to bounce the ball on the racket whilst on the move After a drinks break the fun continued with a game called "Build a Burger". This is where small groups work together to balance tennis balls between rackets as they move up and down the hall. As they complete a lap another person joins the group and adds another layer to the burger. So what starts as a tennis ball between two rackets then has another ball added on top with another racket holding that in place. As the layers build up it becomes harder to keep the whole stack stable and soon the whole lot can fall apart if you are not careful The tennis games concluded with some general games across the nets and then a game of King of the Court. Ollie led the game throwing the ball over the net to each player in turn. They had to hit the ball back over the net and get it to bounce inside the court without getting caught out. Get caught or fail to get the ball back over and in to the court then you were out and you joined Ollie in trying to catch the others out. The last player remaining was the King, or Queen, of the court. This is a great game as it gets progressively harder to survive as the number of fielders grow throughout the game as more people are out. After a final break most of the younger kids went to the ball pool whilst the remainder played some Benchball, as you can see in the photos below.
Ollie and Ray led the session this week as Alan had a week off. The number of attendees was not bad considering it was the start of half term week but we did have a couple of regulars missing. After the usual warm up it was out with the plastic Hockey sticks and tennis balls and to start with the kids moved around the hall trying to keep their ball under close control. This then progressed to moving around cones on a course - slalom fashion. Then Ollie led the group in a traffic light game. If Ollie held up a red cone the kids had to stop with their balls. Yellow meant stand on the spot moving the ball from side to side. Green meant move about the hall, dribbling the ball and keeping it under close control. Next up was the slalom course races where three members had to go up and down the course, around the cones, to be first one back.After that it was some one versus one races. They raced to the far end of the hall to collect the ball and then come back to try and score a goal. They were competing against each other as there was only one ball in play this time and the first to score was the winner. However, they had to overcome either Callum or Kerrie who took it in turns to be the goal tender. After the break the ball pool was too irresistible for the younger kids and so five of them ran off down there with Ollie in hot pursuit, That didn't leave many in the hall to play the final hockey match but Teagan and Bilal's dad Usama joined in to help make up the numbers.
Last Saturday's session was aimed around the sports of Handball and Volleyball but generally the session focused on a number of throwing and catching games before culminating in a volleyball game. As usual the session started with a warm up and with coach Al feeling a bit under the weather (ahh!) Ollie and Ray stepped up to lead the session. The group then moved on to throwing and catching by forming a large circle and throwing across the circle to another player, who had to catch the ball. This developed in to a game where one player was chosen to run around the outside of the circle with the aim of all the others to pass the ball around the circle faster. The winner was the runner if they got back first but if the team passed the ball all the way round before the runner got back then they won. Next, the coaches came up with a game devised to help with aim when throwing. They set up two "courses" consisting of cones, benches and markers. The kids had go around the cones at the far end, then walk down the bench balancing then collect a ball from one of the coaches. Then, whilst balancing on the bench, they had to throw over a row of numbered cones and aiming at specific markers on the floor. This meant that an overhead throw was required, throwing downwards towards the marker but avoiding the cones first. Hopefully some of the photos below will explain it better - they do say a picture paints a thousand words! HandballSkills and DrillsThrowing a ball at a marker from a bench. The next game that the coaches devised was to practice bounce passes and catching. The coaches lined up two rows of benches for the kids to stand outside of. The kids partnered up with one on each side of the benches. They then threw the ball down so that it bounced in the gap between the benches and then bounced up so that their partner could catch it. Making sure the throw was straight was key but also bouncing in the middle so that the ball made it to the other side and at the correct height for catching. The last game of the session was more a proper game of Volleyball. The little ones had disappeared off to the ball pool again - supervised of course! Those left behind split in to two teams. First they practised in their teams hitting the ball and passing to each other. Initially they did this sitting down in a small circle, then standing up. Finally, the two teams faced off for a game against each other.
This week's main sport was Badminton. After the initial warm up each child grabbed a racket and a shuttlecock and started off by hitting the shuttlecock up in the air. The idea being to keep it off the ground in a keepy-uppy style. They then started to move around the hall as they were hitting. From there they paired up and started hitting the shuttlecock to each other. Then the nets were introduced so that they started getting used to hitting over the net to the other side of the court. We finished the Badminton off with some games in pairs across the net. After a drinks break we then switched, in the main, to Boccia. As you can see in the photos below the kids used benches on either side of the hall and a hoop in the middle as a target. Valentina was enjoying the badminton so much that she carried on playing with Kate. Towards the end of the session Ollie took the younger kids off to the ball pool for them to have some fun in
This week's main sport was Indoor Rugby. As always we started the session off with warms up but Ray was absent this week so these were led by Ollie and Alan. The Rugby started with some individual work and in-particular throwing the ball up in the air and catching it whilst jogging around the hall. The more adept at this also included a few claps as the ball was in the air before catching it again. Then it was on to moving the ball around the body. From working individually it was on to pairs work - standing back to back it involved passing the ball over the heads and under the legs, then side to side - first one side then the other. As you will see in the photos above we had an odd number so Daisy, Teagan and Kerrie worked together in a trio which made it interesting! The pairs work continued with some passing to each other before the coaches then set up a Slalom course for the kids. This meant running around cones that had been laid out then throwing the ball in the air and clapping before catching it and running back. After a quick drinks break Ollie led a passing game where all the kids were around him in a circle. To start with he would pass the ball back and forth with each child in turn. Then it moved on to the child with the ball picking another person on the other side of the circle by calling out their name. They would run towards them and take their place in the circle once they had passed the rugby ball to them. The child receiving the ball would then repeat the process with another child. The last rugby based activity to finish things off before the main break was a game of Dragons Den. This is a tag rugby game where one kid has to run up and steal a ball from the dragon's nest and then make it "home" again before being tagged by the dragon (the dragon being on of the other children). After the main break we took things down a notch or two with some Curling using our indoor 'stones'. The coaches would pick two people to compete against each other and they would sit on a bench at the end of the hall. The target was taped to the middle of the hall and the players took in turns to get as close to the centre of the target as possible in order to get as many points as they could. The game is all about rolling the stones in the right direction and with the right weight, or force. Each player has three stones and the latter ones can be used tactically to either knock your opponents stones out of the way or to block a potential throw by the opponent. The session ended with some golf putting with cones and hoops being used as targets. The hoops were used as big holes to aim for and then the cones were used in a game where you collected as many cones as possible by hitting them with your putts.
This week's session focused on all things cricket. After the usual warm up routines and games led by Ray, with assistance from Ollie and Phoebe, it was in to some throwing and catching work. They started by working in pairs throwing and catching with each other. As they grew in confidence they moved further apart to make it slightly more challenging. The group then progressed to playing a game of Champion where the kids line up and Ray stood opposite them in the middle of the hall. He would then throw the tennis ball to players at random. If they caught the ball they would move up the line, if they failed to catch it then they moved down. The objective being to become the Champion by being the person at the head of the line when the game ended. After the Champions game the kids took part in a game that Coach Alan came up with. The group divided in to three and each had a course along the hall to follow. The game involved the first player running up the hall to pick up a tennis ball that was on a cone. They then ran to the far end of the hall and around the cricket stumps before replacing the ball back on the cone and then running back and tagging the next person in the team. |
| At the end of another great session the coaches had to decide who to award the Star of the Week to and this week they picked Callum for all his efforts throughout the session. Well done Callum! Join us again this coming Saturday at 10am to see what Alan and the team have planned for us. |  |
Firstly a Happy New Year to one and all - we hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and New Year and are looking forward to the year ahead
It was good to be back and see all the kids enjoying themselves again this week. The session was dominated by the sport of Basketball. After the usual warms ups it was straight in to some drills including dribbling with the ball, bounce passes and shooting. Amongst all that Ollie led a game of Traffic Lights as you can see in the pictures below.
Next up was some shooting practice using the nets in the school hall. This was then followed up with some matches
After a refreshment break it was back in the hall for a few more games of Basketball before we rounded the session off with some Benchball.
| It was a great first session back and well attended. It was particularly nice to see Sultan back after quite a long absence - welcome back. Star of the week was a close run thing but the coaches awarded it to Daisy for all her efforts throughout the session. Well done Daisy! Join us again next Saturday for the next session where I think the main sport will be cricket |  Our Star this week was Daisy, pictured here with coach Ray |
The weather outside was miserable so we stayed inside in the warm taking part in a number of fun games. The session started with a warm up, as we do every week, and that consisted of some stretching and a jog around the hall. Then there was a tag game and the kids love "Who is afraid of Mr Wolf".
Ray then decided to get the multi coloured parachute out for a few fun games. These included trying to do a Mexican wave, calling for members to swap to the other side underneath the parachute and then trying to keep a ball in the parachute as it goes up and down.
Ray then decided to get the multi coloured parachute out for a few fun games. These included trying to do a Mexican wave, calling for members to swap to the other side underneath the parachute and then trying to keep a ball in the parachute as it goes up and down.
It was then on to the main sport of Volleyball and we used the school's benches instead of nets to start with. This made it easier for the kids to hit the ball up and over on a consistent basis. As you can see in the photos below we split in to two groups / games and played sitting or kneeling down.
After the kids had a break for a drink and a snack we finished off the session with a full game of volleyball with the whole group in to two teams. It was reds versus yellows and looked a lot of fun.
| At the end of the session the coaches struggled to decide on who to award the Star of the Week to as quite a few had performed really well. In the end they decided that Umar deserved the award so a huge congratulations to Umar - well done! He is pictured here with his carer and coach Kate See you all again next week - same time, same place. Only two weeks to go now before we break for Christmas! |  Our Star this week - Umar! |
Tennis was the main sport played this Saturday at Epping Forest Sportability Club
The session started as always with a warm-up - led by Ray this week. As you can see in the photos below this includes bending and stretching all the muscles and a little jogging around the hall before a tag game.
The session started as always with a warm-up - led by Ray this week. As you can see in the photos below this includes bending and stretching all the muscles and a little jogging around the hall before a tag game.
The tennis started with some basic such as balancing the ball on the racket; bouncing the ball on the racket and lastly bouncing the ball between racket and the ground. This was just to get the kids comfortable with the rackets and speed of the tennis balls and how hard to hit them.
They then went on to work in pairs with one throwing the ball for the other to hit back. Then switching around to ensure everyone got a turn at hitting.
They then went on to work in pairs with one throwing the ball for the other to hit back. Then switching around to ensure everyone got a turn at hitting.
Next up was a game which can be really funny called Build-a-burger. The kids have to create a stack like a burger of racket then ball then racket then ball etc etc. With the balls being round (Obviously!) it makes it really tricky to keep it all balanced and can lead to quite a few laughs.
The next Tennis based game was Champion where the kids form a line. Normally a ball would be thrown by the coach in the middle and whoever caught the ball would move up a spot and whoever fails to catch it would move to the bottom spot in line. This being a tennis based game though instead of catching the ball and throwing it back to the coach they had to hit it back using the racket. Hitting it back wildly to somewhere else in the hall was no good - it had to be back to the middle so the coach could catch it.
The last tennis game was King of the Court which we normally play outside in the summer. The kids have to try and hit the ball back over the net, and in to the court, and not get caught in order to survive for the next round. Fail to get the ball back over the net or miss the court or get caught then you join the other side doing the fielding and trying to catch the others out. The last person left in is King, or Queen, of the court.
The next Tennis based game was Champion where the kids form a line. Normally a ball would be thrown by the coach in the middle and whoever caught the ball would move up a spot and whoever fails to catch it would move to the bottom spot in line. This being a tennis based game though instead of catching the ball and throwing it back to the coach they had to hit it back using the racket. Hitting it back wildly to somewhere else in the hall was no good - it had to be back to the middle so the coach could catch it.
The last tennis game was King of the Court which we normally play outside in the summer. The kids have to try and hit the ball back over the net, and in to the court, and not get caught in order to survive for the next round. Fail to get the ball back over the net or miss the court or get caught then you join the other side doing the fielding and trying to catch the others out. The last person left in is King, or Queen, of the court.
After the break we rounded off the session with a game or two of Boccia then a game of Benchball. Boccia is quite sedate, a game of skill. Whereas Benchball is fast, furious and often very loud with lots of calling and shouting.
| It was a good session with a lot of participation and a variety of sports. The Star of the Week award was awarded to little Bilal. He comes most weeks with his Dad but this week they stayed a lot longer than usual and he put in a great performance. He is a lovely young lad who is quite quiet but a few more years of Sportability and he will hopefully be as loud as the rest of them! We hope you see you again this weekend - it much better fun than going to school xmas fayre's honest! |  Our Star this week was Bilal pictured here with Teagan |
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Epping Forest Sportability Club is a multi-sports club for young people with mild to moderate physical and learning difficulties.
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