Cricket skills in abundance at EFSC this week

This week at EF Sportability Cricket was the main sport with throwing, catching, batting and fielding all being practiced.
After a warm up we started off the cricket with the kids working in pairs. They started by throwing and catching the ball between them using both hands to catch the ball. From there we put a round mat in between each pair so that they could throw the ball to bounce it on the spot before their partner caught it. This helped focus their throwing to try and be as accurate as possible. If  they mastered hitting the spot they would gradually move further away (taking a step back) to make it a little harder. We then progressed to a game of champion. This is where the kids form a line and face one of the coaches (Ray). Ray would then call out a person at a time and throw the tennis ball to them. If they caught the ball they would move one place up the line. If they didnt catch it then it was down to the bottom of the line. When time was up the person at the top of the line was the champion.

After a drinks break we moved on to bowling underarm towards stumps at the end of the hall. Each player would take a turn then become wicketkeeper for the next person so the group rotated. 
Next was a similar exercise but rather than bowling at the stumps the wicket keeper would roll the ball out and the next kid up would collect (field) the ball before throwing it at the stumps - as if they were fielding and trying to run out a batter in a cricket game.
The last bit of practice before the break was some batting practice, hitting the tennis balls off a plastic tee and using plastic bats.

After the main break the kids played a version of the Three Tee Cricket game. In this version each player hits three balls off a tee one at a time. Each time they try and get as many runs as possible before the fielding side return the ball to a tee of their own and shout out STOP! The players took it one at a time to hit their three balls and all the runs were totted up for their side. The teams then switched around so that the fielding team batted and vice-versa.

We finished off the session staying in the same teams but playing some Boccia. The teams aimed to get their bowls in to hoops laid out on the floor. As the rounds of games went on the number of hoops to aim for were reduced making it harder

At the end of the session Alan and the coaching team awarded the Star of the week award to Ellis, one of our newer members who always shows great energy and enthusiasm. Well done Ellis

Join us again this coming Saturday for more action packed fun!

Ellis receiving his Star of the Week award from Coach Alan