While the Adults talked the Kids had Fun

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. 

As you can see it was a very busy session for everyone but we had a really good turn out which made for some really good sport. For his involvement throughout the session Ray, Ciara and Ollie awarded the Star of the Week award to  young Liam, particularly for his involvement in the cricket session. He was presented the award by Matt who was one of the original members of the club and who is now a sports ambassador for Active Essex. He has agreed to become our Deputy Chairperson on the committee for the coming year as well as being our Twitter account manager. It was great to see Matt back but a very well done to Liam for the award.
​Join us again next Saturday for our last session of the half term!

Matt presents the Star of the Week award to Liam