I just thought I would write up some of the coaching I have been doing all week with a bunch of kids in Ellesmere Port. The pay was good, the children great, and possibly some real stars for the future. I also used a disc game which they insisted on playing every day, and which I have used successfully on numerous open-access play days.
Frisbee Death (I think I first called this frisbee tag, but Alistair Cambell told me to change it to this sexier title) Everyone plays inside a marked area about the size of an endzone. One disc is used, and the aim is to throw the disc at anyone to hit them (head shots are discouraged). Usual Ultimate rules apply in that the person with the disc cannot move, everyone else can run away or get as close as they dare. If the disc hits anyone before it hits the ground, that person is 'out' and is a prisoner of the thrower. They remain outside the marked area until the person who caught them is out of the game. People can also be out by having their throw caught (before it hits the ground). If only two people are left inside the area (I.e. everyone else is a prisoner of one of them) then everyone comes back in to the game (we don't like outright winners) The result is a game that is instant for kids to understand, very fast moving, initially rewards poor throwers (whose throws tend to go in to the ground, or are quite uncatchable), rapidly improves people's catching skills, and throws up some surprising team work. We normally have to introduce a couple of extra rules like you cannot throw it twice in a row unless you get someone out with a shot, dangerous play (thrown too fast at someone very close) results in losing your prisoners and dropping out until someone else is caught out, etc. As far as the coaching was concerned, Paulo and I were hired to run two 2 hours sessions a day for 5 days this week at a Sports Centre in Ellesmere Port. We had up to 15 children attending (6 girls, 2 of whom I reckon will make the GB Girls team by next year), with most of them coming to every session. The children were aged 9-14, and the progress in just a week was immense. Most of them are now totally hooked (one 11 year old looks like a future GB Women's captain as she not only plays basketball, netball and football - she went to Man United on Wednesday to train and they asked her to join their girls team, and she told them she would rather play frisbee!) All of them got certificates, discs (cheers Jamie for still selling discs to juniors at �4) and medals at the end of the week. It was fun making up titles for each of them to 'win' - MVP, D-Monster, MIP, MPP (Most promising player), MIA (Most improved attitude - OK, so we were starting to struggle by then), etc. I've seen requests before from places like Stockport Council, Ealing Council, etc. asking for people willing to coach some youngsters. If you get a chance to get involved in something like this, please do so. We really need more juniors to be playing the sport in this country. It's fantastic that GB Juniors can now go to tournaments like Europeans with a real chance of winning, but out of a squad of 18 juniors, only 5 of them are young enough to play next year. Catch them at 11, and we'll have them in the GB Juniors / GB Girls team for 6 years. Kevin. --- | [EMAIL PROTECTED] Tel: 07973 482098 | The enemy isn't the other side, wherever they draw the line | The enemy is the ruling class that draws the bloody line. | - Robb Johnson __________________________________________________ BritDisc mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://pootle.near.me.uk/mailman/listinfo/britdisc Staying informed - http://www.ukultimate.com/informed.asp
