As it was the final Saturday session before the half term break we took things a little easier this week with a range of games and sports to keep the kids amused without doing the normal structured session with skills practice and the like
​As you can see from the photos below the kids could choose from Badminton, Basketball shooting, table tennis, table football and various forms of boccia

Last Saturday was our Club's AGM (Annual General Meeting) which meant that all the parents and carers sat around chatting for an hour or so while all the kids were way too busy having fun. Firstly a big thank you to all the adults who took the time to come along to the AGM and contribute to a really useful meeting. However, it did mean that I didn't really get to see what the kids got up to in the hall. Therefore, I will let all the photos do the talking but what I can say is that the main sport was cricket and as usual the session started with a warm up led by Ray, Ciara and Ollie. It was then on to some throwing and catching in pairs.

Ray and Ollie then led a catching game where one of them would stand in the middle with all the kids around them in a circle. They would throw the ball to different kids at random and if they caught it they stayed in but drop it and you are out. Eventually the numbers dwindled until there was one winner 
​They then moved on to three tee cricket where a player would take their turn to hit the three balls off the three tees as hard as they could. If the ball hit the back wall they got extra runs. Once all the balls were dispatched the batter would run as many times as they could between the wickets. Whilst the batter was running the fielders sprung in to action and had to collect the tees and balls and put them back in their original places. Once everything was back in place the runner had to stop and their runs were totalled up. Once everyone had taken their turn the one with the most runs was declared the winner. 

After a break for refreshments it was time to make the most of the good weather and get out on to the playground for our next game - benchball. As they were outside the benches were replaced with mats so the game was renamed Mattball - not least because we welcome Matt Robinson Jayes back. The kids split in to two teams with the aim to pass the ball to each other without the ball hitting the floor. After three passes the aim is then to pass the ball to the team mate on the mat. If they catch it then the thrower joins them on the matt. The team to get all their players on to the matt is the winner. 

After another short break for drinks the last game played was back inside in the hall and was a twist on the one on one games we played last week. The coaches would pick to kids to face each other of similar age or ability and they would have to run the length of the hall around cones and then come back competing to be the first to score. The twist was that it was not until the kids were running up the hall that the coaches would say what sport they would complete in. It could be football, hockey or basketball. If it was hockey then they would pick up a stick each as the coach threw the ball in to play. If it was football or basketball then the coach would just throw the appropriate ball in to play. 

We had so much fun playing Hockey last Saturday at Epping Forest Sportability Club that we didn't get to play any other sports that we had planned !
​Our session started as usual with a warm up  session starting with stretches, moving on to some light jogging around the hall and then on to some games of Tag and What's the Time Mr Wolf? The session was led by coaches Ray and Ciara ably assisted by Ollie.

Once everyone was fully warmed up it was straight in to the hockey. We play with plastic hockey sticks and tennis balls so first up was some practice controlling the ball with the stick, gradually moving around the ball. Once all the kids were comfortable with their ball control we stepped things up a bit with Ollie leading a Traffic Light game. This consisted of Ollie standing on a bench holding up either a red, yellow or green disk.  Red obviously means stop where you are with your ball; yellow means stand still moving the ball from side to side and green means go moving around controlling the ball. Once the kids got the hang of the game it was time to start the competition! This meant if you were caught moving on a red signal you were out. Similarly, if you were the last to get going on green or to switch to moving side to side on yellow you were out. The winner was the last person left in the game and for our game the winner was Lesley!

After a quick break for a drink it was straight on to a slalom game controlling the ball around cones as you went up and down the hall. This then moved on to some one on one games with the kids racing each other up the hall around cones and then competing for the ball as it is thrown it to play by a coach. They then have to control the ball back down the hall towards the goal and try and beat the goalie. The first to score is  the winner.
​Each player had two games in succession to try and allow them to play other players of similar size, age or ability so player A was up against player B then no matter the result player B then played player C and so on.....

Last Saturday's session was dedicated mainly to  the sport of Rugby, but we still had time for a game of Handball before the end of the session.
​The session started as always with a warm up and a game of Tag but at the request of Callum we also played "What's the Time Mr Wolf?"
​We then moved on to the main sport of Rugby with the kids pairing up to throw the ball to each other trying to pass the ball properly and catch it. We then moved on to a game which involved running and passing as you can see in the photos below. The group split in to two teams - reds and yellows. Each team then divided in half with Reds in North and South position and Yellows in East / West. When called the player at the front of the queue for each colour would run to the other end and pass to their team mate then join the end of that queue. The team mate with the ball would then do the same when called. It was up to the coaches to ensure both colours didn't run at the same time and crash in the middle of the hall.
The game progressed further with the pass to the team mate happening in the centre of the hall. This meant that team mates were running towards each other and passing the ball between themselves whilst both were moving.
​To make things even more complex the coaches then decided to introduce some running in a slalom fashion around dots on the floor before passing to the team mate. 

After all that exhausting work it was time for a break. Once rested it was on to a game of Dragon's Den. This is where a Dragon is guarding their nest of eggs (rugby balls) from would be thieves. The balls are placed in a ring and the Dragon faces away from the ring. The player then has to approach the ring and wait for the coach to yell GO. At this point the player must steal a ball and get back to their base at the other end of the hall without getting caught by a Dragon. The Dragon cant move until the GO signal is called but must then try a grab a tag off the rival players belt before they get back to their base with the ball. We had two games running in parallel so it was fast and furious fun and as you can tell by the photos below the kids loved every second of it!

The final game we played was Handball but we play it with Velcro pads and a tennis ball. To start with the kids practised in pairs throwing to each other and catching the ball with the Velcro pads. Then it was straight on to some target practice throwing the tennis ball at a suspended target trying to get it to stick. That then led in to a team game with a target at each end and two teams playing each other. They should not run with the ball (although some did!) but rather pass to a team mate and run up the pitch to hopefully receive a pass back.