September 9th, 2014 | Uncategorized
We have been to two different primary schools, (elementary schools in the states) so far. It is overwhelming how exciting the kids are to have us, but also the teachers and staff are more than accommodating. It’s exciting for us to see and hear from the teachers how awesome this is for the kids and the school as a whole to have coaches and mentors brought in, even just once a week, to work with the kids.
Today we were at St. James Primary school just around the corner from UUJ. We worked with 4 or 5 different classes, some kids as young as 6 and up to 11. We started with some simple fun games and incorporated dribbling and passing. The kids really took to it and seemed to also enjoy themselves-especially the relay race competitions. After the first session, Ronnie, Ryan and I got into a rhythm and routine of how we wanted to run the sessions. Then the next four classes that came in we were able to better control the session and they flew by smoothly.
Aimee gave us one tip, and it was to really really really break the drills down for them with more explanation. It’s easy for us to forget and take for granted simple skills like passing, catching, jump stops, dribbling. The kids were all very capable but they grasped it even quicker when we really broke it down and gave tips like “make a W” with your hands for catching and passing. Its the little things like the W and asking their favorite ice cream and color that make the sessions count. Can’t wait to see what school I will be more permanently placed with for the rest of the year!
