We saw a very good turn out this week and the main sport we practised was Rugby. After the usual warm up it was straight in to some pairs work practising passing a rugby ball between each other. Alan was on hand to explain technique to ensure the ball was being passed in the correct way. Once everyone had the hang of that Alan made it harder - still working in pairs but facing away from each other they had to pass the ball around their waists, above their heads and between their legs. It made for some good stretching, communication, team work and ball control,

Next up were some relay races with the pairs having to go up and down the hall whilst passing to each other and trying to beat the other teams at the same time. Following that was some Tag Rugby races in a game called Hunter. One player has to race to pick up a rugby ball and run back trying to get home before being tagged. The hunter has to run around a bollard before trying to catch and tag their prey before they get home with the ball, It is fast, energetic and a lot of fun!

After a well earned break we brought the pace down a bit with a couple of rounds of rounds of Target Boccia. A firm favourite where the group split in to two teams and aim for the centre of the target in the middle of the two teams. It is a nice relaxing game to play after all the action of the Rugby and allows the kids to have a bit of a chat at the same time
The last game we played before finishing off the session was a quick game of Benchball. The two teams aiming to get all their players on to the bench. Each time the team has the ball they must pass it to a colleague three times without the ball hittinig the ground. Only then can they pass the ball to their colleage on the bench. If caught they join their colleague on the bench, if not the game carries on with the opposing team getting the ball. There is plenty of running around, throwing, passing, shouting and a few interceptions as well. 

At the end of an action packed session the coaches awarded the Star of the Week to Jessica. She is pictured here with coaches Alan and Ciara. Very well done Jess!

Next week it should be indoor hockey - we look forward to seeing you all then!

This weeks session at EF Sportability consisted of Badminton, Basketball and a Blindfold Challenge.
It was a bit of a slow start in terms of numbers so we opted for Badminton rather than the planned Rugby session but gradually more members rolled in so we ended up with a good number making for a great session. We started as usual with a warm up before launching straight in to Badminton. Alan had managed to buy some new nets and shuttlecocks during the week so these were put to immediate use. To start with each child tried to play keepy-uppy with a shuttlecock - basically hitting it up in the air to yourself thus trying to control pace and direction. It sounds simple but is a lot harder than it looks. We then progressed to working in pairs passing to each other before finally moving on to some mini games whether that be singles or pairs. Some great skill was shown and a few long rallies as well!

After a well earned break we changed  the pace down a bit to play a new game. We struggled a bit for a name for it but eventually settled on Blindfold Challenge. As you can see in the photos below it consisted of the group breaking up in to three teams then taking it in turns to be blind folded. Once blindfolded you would be spun around three times to disorientate you then a team member would guide you to the middle circle where you were asked to pick a particular object such as a bean bag or quoite and take it back to your base. So this was all about teamwork, communication and trust! It was good fun and interesting to see how the different kids reacted to being out of control to a degree and relying on others for help and guidance.

We finished off the session with a game of Basketball.  It ended up being a bit of a one sided game with the blue team winning by a 7-3 margin with some great shooting by all the blue team but particularly Callum and Pranav. But everyone enjoyed it and it was a great way to use up any remaining energy. The coaches decided at the end of the session that Pranav had performed really well throughout the whole session and was the worthy winner of the Star of the Week award. A very well done to Pranav. 
Next week it will hopefully be Rugby so we look forward to seeing you all bright and early, raring to go, at 10:00. Dont forget if you know of a friend who would benefit from our sessions then invite them along to see for themselves.

Firstly, a very Happy New Year to everyone and we hope you had a good rest and great fun over the festive period - although it probably seems a long time ago already.
We started 2017 with a session dedicated to basketball last Saturday. It was great to see so many young members back, raring to go and we were soon in to the swing of things. Ray led a quick warm up as always to start, including a game of tag, before we quickly moved on to practising our basketball skills. This consisted mainly of a number of drills around ball control and dribbling and as you can see in the photos below it included some tricky skills such as bouncing the ball close to the ground and passing the ball through and around the legs.

After a quick refreshment break it was on to some shooting practice and one-on-one games. Meanwhile, as Liam had a bit of an accident at home leaving his teeth a bit wobbly he took it a bit easier playing some great games of bowls out in the hall with Theo.
With all the practising done all that was left was to play some basketball matches. So, after a snack and refreshment break, they split up in to three teams for some end to end action

At the end of a great session the first star of the week prize for the year was awarded by the coaches to Charlotte, pictured below with Ollie and Ciara. A big well done to Charlotte.
Join us next Saturday when, if the snow keeps up, we will do snowboarding, giant slalom and the luge! Failing that it will be rugby practice which will include passing, catching and some tag rugby games hopefully.  See you there!