We enjoyed a mix of activities last Saturday at Epping Forest Sportability Club. We started with a warm up as usual lead by Ray. After that he led some parachute games which are always a lot of fun and help with team work and coordination. The games included swapping positions when called with another child by running under the parachute when lifted and trying to keep a ball on the parachute and to get it to the centre spot.

After the main break we played a completely new game for us - Football Rounders. So a mixture of Rounders but rather than using a bat and hitting a ball for miles, too many windows around, we used a football. The group split in to two teams and took it in turns to "bat" and try and get all the way around before getting stumped or caught out.

On a very warm and muggy morning it was good to be outside on the playground practising our Tennis skills. Alan had the kids bouncing the balls on their rackets, then bouncing between ground and racket. He even tried to get them to bounce the balls using the side (frame) of the racket

Once the tennis skills (hitting and catching) were complete it was time for a game of King of the Court. Ollie was throwing the balls for each child in turn to try and return back over the net, and in to the court.

After the main break we moved things inside to play some Basketball. In particular we were focusing on shooting practice, followed by some one vs one games. For the shooting practice we made use of the main baskets at each end of the hall and the little basket for our younger members. For the one vs one games the coaches picked out children to compete against each other. On the word go they would run to the far end of the hall where Ollie would throw the ball in to play. They then dribble the ball back down the hall with the first to score a basket being the winner. So it is about attack and defence, dribbling and shooting.

It was a great session all around - a lot of fun was had.
Star of the Week awards went to Ellis and Anand. Congrats to you both
See you all again on Saturday for more fun and action

It was great to be back after the half term break and we had a great turnout for a session based around cricket skills. We started with some throwing and catching practice before a game of Champion. The group split in to two different games of champion so that the kids didnt have to wait long between turns.

After a quick drinks break we practiced batting - hitting off tees towards some target cones.

After the main break we played a new game called rapid fire cricket. It is a variation on three tee cricket but in this game there are four balls to hit off of four tees. The difference being that the fielding team have to get the four tennis balls back in to four separate hoops, place them on a cone in the hoop and stand in the hoop with the ball. Therefore, the batter only stops running between wickets when 4 balls are on 4 cones, inside 4 hoops along with 4 fielders. I promise you it is a lot easier than it sounds! Coach Alan explained the rules and kept score. Once everyone had a turn to bat in Callum's team their total was 61 runs. Valentina's team was next up and they tried to overcome that score - unfortunately by then everyone had the hang of the game and the fielding was a lot quicker so they only managed 44 runs.

We finished off the session with Ray leading some games of Boccia with a decreasing number of hoops to aim for. As you can see in the photos below the red team won the final game with 2 balls in the lone hoop against the blue team's solitary ball.
Our star of the week awards this week went to Liam and Pranav - well done lads!
See you again this Saturday for more fun in the sun - if the heatwave does arrive dont forget to apply lots of sun screen and have plenty of drinks!

We hope you all had a fabulous half term break and enjoyed the jubilee celebrations.
Sportabililty club is back this Saturday at 10am for the final half term of the year.
Before we broke up for half term Alan and the team had a Hockey based session on the 28th May and the Stars of the Week for that session were Callum and Valentina - pictured below.
See you all again this Saturday for more fun and action