Summer Sports continue with some Tennis Fun & Games

After playing cricket last week it was on to another summer sport this week with some Tennis out in the fresh air of the playground. We had a great turnout again and after the usual warm up in the hall it was outside for some skills work. To start with Alan, Ray and the coaches had the kids balancing tennis balls on their rackets followed by bouncing the ball with the racket This was all to teach and practice ball control. Once that was mastered it was on to working in pairs passing the ball to each other with the aim of getting a rally going.

After a quick drinks break it was back out on to the court with the next step being passing the ball back over the net. The group split in to two with Alan on one court and Ollie on the other. The kids lined up to return a ball thrown to them back over the net. All this practice led to a game of King (or Queen) of the Court. The aim of the game was  to be the last one standing by returning the ball over the net and getting it within the court and not being caughht out. All the kids start on the hitting side but if they fail to get the ball back over the net and in to the court in three attempts, or they get caught by the fielding side, then they are out and join the fielding side. Gradually the queue of hitters goes down and the amount of fielders goes up until their is just one left in and they are crowned the king or queen of the court.

Our Star of the Week Jenny pictured with Alan and Anand

It was time for a well earned snack break, during which Theo and Liam enjoyed themselves on the playground equipment as you can see in the photos above. Then, with the weather getting a bit colder, we returned indoors for a game of volleyball followed by a game of benchball to finish.
Overall it was a very busy and energetic session which focused a lot around ball control, whether that be with a racket or throwing and catching. At the end of the session coach Alan and his staff awarded the Star of the Week award to Jenny who worked hard throughout the session and really enjoyed herself. 
Come along again next Saturday to see what Alan and the team have in store for us!

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