Reuben Caven

Sports Diploma

Primary School Festival

Oldfield Primary School I was in a group of four leaders. We all agreed on running a bench & handball session, but we had changed the rules slightly. We were based in the sports hall and we split the hall into three sections, the top section was bench ball and the last two courts were handball with modified rules. The changed rules for handball were in order to score a point for your team had to throw the ball against the turn board (there is one at each end) and the person who threw it HAS to catch it in order for them to succeed a point. They have to throw the ball from behind the line; if they are in front its a turn over. There is no goal keeper in this game, everyone is spread-out across the court, theyre not allowed to move with the ball, but they can move without it. For bench ball, there would be 1 person on each bench, then the rest of the participants would be spread out across the court (in front the benches), the aim is to get the ball to the keeper of the bench with out moving (you cant run with the bull but you can run without it), if you successfully get the ball to the person on the bench, the person who threw it there joins them, once everyone is on the bench the game ends. The first team with all teammates on the bench wins. I had time to take 2 sessions; I coached two groups of 17 pupils. In both sessions I split the pupils into sets of three, group 1 & 2 had 6 pupils, whilst group three had 5. We had a round robin setup, this means that every team would play each other once. The format went like this Team 1 vs. Team 2 Team 1 vs. Team 3 Team 2 vs. Team 3 Every team got to play each other once, it was a success. What made me proud was every single pupil I coached took part in my activity, not to mention they had a smile of their face which makes you feel like you have accomplished your goal as a coach/leader. I dint see one child moan or have a tantrum. The round robin format worked really well as all the children got enough playing time and they werent sitting down for too long, theyre were constantly having fun. One thing which could of went better was if we changed the rules slightly for the modified handball, as children were finding it difficult to catch the ball of the turn board, especially with dozens of other children surrounding them. So a new rule for next time would be to explain that they have to keep a reasonable distance from the ball carrier and that once you throw the ball off the turn board ANY OF YOUR TEAM can catch it to gain a point. In conclusion, I found that our group and I tried our very best and we achieved our goal and that was to make sure everyone is having fun. I can clearly see that the children enjoyed themselves by the big smiles on their faces; it was a success, another great festival accomplished!