The session this week mainly focused around the sport of Rugby
We started off the session with a warm up as always - very important!
Then it was out with the Rugby balls and working in pairs passing the ball to each other. This helped familiarise the kids with the balls and helped ensure they were passing the ball correctly and therefore able to control where the ball actually went.
From there the coaches spiced it up a bit with some "over and under" passing - over the head and then between the legs with the pair back to back. Then it was side to side switching from one side of the body to the other. This helped develop quick and accurate handling of the ball. Lastly, we then ran a drill where the kids worked in threes, moving up and down the hall passing along the line and back again. The person in the middle having to catch and pass in both directions.

The last bit of Rugby was a game called Hunter. This a tag game where the kids compete against each other in pairs. Each take it in turns to be hunted or the hunter. One child will run to the end of the hall and collect a ball and return to the start without getting tagged. The other child has to run to the far end, around a cone, and then try and tag their opponent before they get the ball back

We finished our session by taking the pace down a bit with some games of Boccia. Ray split the group in to two teams and the players took it in turns to try and get their ball in to one of the hoops. As the games progressed the number of hoops to aim for reduced making it harder to score and making accurate bowling a must.

We played a variety of sports last Saturday at Epping Forest Sportability Club. After a warm up we started out with Hockey and as always we practice some skills and build our way up to playing some matches.
We started off with some simple ball control with each child taking a hockey stick and tennis ball and dribbling / moving the ball around the hall. Once they had the hang of things we made it slightly harder by asking them to follow the lines marked out on the hall floor. Then to finish off we laid out a course of cones and asked the kids to control their ball as they moved around the course.

After the break we played some putting (golf) games. Firstly trying to get the ball in to one of the hoops. Then the coaches laid out all the cones on the floor and the kids had to try and hit as many as they could. Any they hit they collected with the player who collected the most by the end of the game declared the winner.​

We finished off the session with some games of Benchball. The kids love this game as it is fast and fun and needs some great teamwork in order to win the game. The object being that the kids pass the ball up the field and throw to their player on the bench. If it is caught, without bouncing on the floor, then the person who threw the ball joins the catcher on the bench. The team with all their players on the bench first is the winner. 
Join us again next Saturday for some more fun and action

In the week that saw the end of the humiliation of the England Cricket team in the Ashes down under, we were busy cultivating our own cricketing stars. 
Once the group were all warmed up we started off with some simple catching and throwing routines. Firstly the group started with bouncing and catching a ball with both hands. Then they did the same but catching with only one hand. They then went on to working in pairs - throwing and catching with each other. 
With everyone confident in their catching abilities we put it to practice with a game of Champion. This is where the kids line up facing a coach. There is just one ball and the coach will call out a kids name and throw the ball to them. If they catch it they move up the line. If they drop the ball they go to the back of the line. Whoever is at the top of the line at the end of the game is the Champion.
Once the Champion game was complete we went back to more practicing by throwing the ball to wickets and then on to batting practice.

After the break, for drinks and snacks, we played some games of Three Tee Cricket. The group split in to two teams with each taking a turn to bat and field. When batting, each player takes a turn to hit three tennis balls off of three tees. The fielding team are not allowed to touch the balls until the third ball has been hit. Then the batter tries to get as many runs between the wickets in the time it takes the fielding team to put the three balls back on the three tees and return to the fielding side of the hall. Once everyone on the batting side has taken a turn the teams switch so the batters then field and the fielding team take their turn at batting. In the end Pranav's team managed 50 runs but Callum's team amassed 60 runs.
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T finish off the session we took the pace down a notch as we played some games of Curling. The kids took it in turns to try and get the "stones" inside one of the basketball circles marked out at the far end of the hall. Then it got harder as it was whoever got closest to the centre circle​

It was great to see some familiar faces back for the start of 2022 and a new term.
We hope you all had a fabulous Christmas and New year and hope you had a chance to relax and enjoy some quality time with family and friends.
We started back with a session of Basketball and Boccia. After the usual warm up, led by Ray, it was out with the basketballs and to start with it was just practising with the balls, bouncing them on the spot and then as they walked around the hall.
From there, the group formed a circle and passed the ball to each other. They called out the name of the person before passing the ball across the circle. Alan then developed this so that on catching the ball the player had to pass the ball around their waist and then around their feet before passing it on.  After a while it went even further by throwing the ball in the air and clapping before passing around the waist etc.

After a quick drinks break the group moved on to some shooting drills. This started with them taking it in turns to dribble the ball around cones before shooting at the basket. Once they had some practice shooting, Alan developed it further by getting them to work in pairs so that they passed to each other as they approached the basket before taking it in turns to shoot.

After the main break we placed all the practice to good use by playing some small sided games with three teams of  5 a side - reds, yellows and blues. All the leaders got stuck in as well and there were some great skills and shooting.​

We took things down a notch or two as we finished the session off with some Boccia. The group split in to  two teams at either end of the hall. Ray set up the game with a number of hoops in the middle of the hall to aim for. As each round progressed he removed some hoops so that there were less to aim for. It ended with just two hoops and then one solitary hoop in the middle of the hall to aim for.

It was a fabulous session for our first week back and everyone worked hard and seemed to enjoy it. The coaches gave the Star of the week award to Alexander for his hard work and enthusiasm throughout. Well done Alexander!

Join us again next Saturday for a different sport but still loads of fun!



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