What A Scorcher!

After all the miserable weather we had before  the Easter break we came back last Saturday to a blisteringly hot day. It was therefore great to get out on to the playground to enjoy the sun and fresh air. 
​Alan and the coaching staff lined up a great session based around Cricket which allowed us to use some of the new equipment we bought recently with financial assistance from Epping Forest District Council. In this case, we had purchased two cricket sets, one small and one medium sized, containing plastic bats and stumps.
​Ray started the session, as usual, with some warm ups consisting of some twisting and stretching.

The first activity was catching practice. This started with the members pairing up to throw and catch a tennis ball with each other. The better they got at it the further apart they could go. We then moved on to a game called Champions. This is where all the kids line up in a row and a coach faces them all. The coach will throw to people at random. If they drop the ball they move down the row but if they catch the ball they move up. The person at the top of the row at the end is the champion.

After a refreshment break it was then on to some batting practice. As you can see in the photos below the members took it in turns to hit the tennis balls off a plastic tee on a marker. Things then got more difficult as cones were laid out with the challenge being to hit the balls between the cones. Therefore, swinging the bat and going for brute force did not necessarily work as control and aim became more important. This would become important later on when playing a game and trying to hit the ball between fielders.

It was then time for the main break for snacks and refreshments before we launched in to the last part of the session. This is where we put all that was practised before hand in to a game. We didn't have time for a 5 day test match, 50 overs or even 20 overs so instead we played a game where each member took a turn to bat. They had 10 goes to get as many runs as possible.  It was a fantastic session all in all and competition was tight for Star of the Week as there was some great effort and participation shown by a few members. Unfortunately I missed the opportunity of taking a photo of the presentation of the certificate but a very well done to the deserving winner.
​Join us again next Saturday where hopefully the sun will make a return visit and we can all enjoy some more exciting sports.