Date 26
Thursday
Our first sessions of the day was at Frederick Smith, only down the road from where we reside. It was a really neat session, one of the best of the week in my opinion. We always get a pretty good turn out there, around 18 and the session went brilliantly, until the end....! In the match there was a few heated kicks starting to slyly come into play and it was only a matter of time before someone would retaliate. Karl, one of the most improved players over the last month, didn't enjoy a tackle which came in on him and then a fight broke out. It was really gutting for that to happen because the session went so well!
Our next stop was Alma Paris, which was a school that we use to dread to go to but I really look forward going there now! The boys have improved in terms of respect and concentration and I'd like to think I have made some kind of bond with them. They get really surprised when I know their names and I like to take the mickey sometimes in the matches by nutmegging them and then never letting them forget it!
After Wednesdays long day, Shaz and I were still feeling a bit jaded so there was only one thing we could do seeing as Harison college have pulled out of the programme. BEACH!!! After driving past Mullins beach over the last couple days we could see that they've started to put a couple more attractions in the water, which was cool to see! Shaz and I left that for another day but we hired out some Jetski's for 20 minutes at a price of 25 dollars each. We've made an acquaintance with a man called "Fabulous" on the beach so he sorts us out with prices which are a lot cheaper than anyone else we've gone too! He repeatedly told Shaz she was beautiful after helping off her Jet Ski, I just got a simple "thanks for the business". Nice. Funnily enough, when I asked him to take some photos of Shaz and Me, he took 2 of me and 8 of her! The jet ski's were awesome fun and I think we're both gonna have a go at water skiing soon!
Nice day!!
All the best
Luke
Friday, 30 May 2014
Day 25
Day 25
Wednesday
St Winifred's to start today. An emotional fairwell! I insisted if any boys or girls wanted to take 5 minutes to wipe their tears during the session that would be fine! We played Capture the flag for a warm up, did some static stretching and then played some fun games, before starting a match to cap off an awesome 4 weeks. Mr Mconney, the principal couldn't play today because of a meeting so that was very gutting, seeing as he was such a big advocate for our programme. We gave out two prizes to the two boys we thought really put effort in our sessions, had good team work and was always present! Those two were boys called Lewis and Drew. Well done to them, very well deserved!!
Our second session was at Daryll Jordan which was a poor session in all honesty. Daryll Jordan is in the same bracket as Alma Paris and St George's, where a lot of the boys have ADHD and behavioural problems etc which we weren't told until after our session. We had planned a session that we would do with most schools which takes some concentration, however these boys lacked that and therefore it didn't really go to plan! Now we know that, we will definitely plan our sessions around their needs.
Our day finished at Barbados Community college where it was the opening session of our coaching football course that we are teaching as part of their football module in their physical education college course. Our focus for today's session was warm ups and in all honestly the session went fantastically. We had a group of around 25 students, varying in ages and it was a really nice learning atmosphere. This course puts us in the shoes of John Olaleye and Steve Eadon, who only 6-8 months ago were teaching us on how to coach. Aran started off with some dynamic stretches, Evan performed a fun numbers game, I showcased Arsenal vs Spurs and Shaz did Arsenal command with loads of variations, then collectively we showed them chicken or hero. The programme is quite demanding so the students were very tired but a lot was learnt seeing as we stripped all the warm ups back to basics, answered questions, asked for feedback and even gave homework! As I said before, I really enjoyed it and it went great, I would definitely say they learnt the importance of a warm up and that laps is not the answer.
Very long day today! Literally 12 hours.
All the best
Luke
Wednesday
St Winifred's to start today. An emotional fairwell! I insisted if any boys or girls wanted to take 5 minutes to wipe their tears during the session that would be fine! We played Capture the flag for a warm up, did some static stretching and then played some fun games, before starting a match to cap off an awesome 4 weeks. Mr Mconney, the principal couldn't play today because of a meeting so that was very gutting, seeing as he was such a big advocate for our programme. We gave out two prizes to the two boys we thought really put effort in our sessions, had good team work and was always present! Those two were boys called Lewis and Drew. Well done to them, very well deserved!!
Our second session was at Daryll Jordan which was a poor session in all honesty. Daryll Jordan is in the same bracket as Alma Paris and St George's, where a lot of the boys have ADHD and behavioural problems etc which we weren't told until after our session. We had planned a session that we would do with most schools which takes some concentration, however these boys lacked that and therefore it didn't really go to plan! Now we know that, we will definitely plan our sessions around their needs.
Our day finished at Barbados Community college where it was the opening session of our coaching football course that we are teaching as part of their football module in their physical education college course. Our focus for today's session was warm ups and in all honestly the session went fantastically. We had a group of around 25 students, varying in ages and it was a really nice learning atmosphere. This course puts us in the shoes of John Olaleye and Steve Eadon, who only 6-8 months ago were teaching us on how to coach. Aran started off with some dynamic stretches, Evan performed a fun numbers game, I showcased Arsenal vs Spurs and Shaz did Arsenal command with loads of variations, then collectively we showed them chicken or hero. The programme is quite demanding so the students were very tired but a lot was learnt seeing as we stripped all the warm ups back to basics, answered questions, asked for feedback and even gave homework! As I said before, I really enjoyed it and it went great, I would definitely say they learnt the importance of a warm up and that laps is not the answer.
Very long day today! Literally 12 hours.
All the best
Luke
Thursday, 29 May 2014
Wednesday, 28 May 2014
Day 24
Day 24
Tuesday.
Early rise today, my alarm was set for 6:45, meaning we would be leaving just before 7:30.
Our first school today was St Michael's. The sessions always go well here but sometimes the concentration lacks, the field we have is really good and has hardly any cracks which makes a change! We did our scheduled session for the week which incorporates dribbling right from the warm up and drill and then finally an added restriction in the match which translates the skills they've learnt! So we started with a warm up exercise which is called foxes and rabits which really emphasises change of direction and quick feet. Our drill is called "Dribbling Gauntlet" which again is all about dribbling. The layout is that there is students, the passers, facing each other on 4-8 cones spread a fair distance apart, opposite eachother. Then there is 2-4 "dribblers" at the top and bottom of the gauntlet. The aim of the game is for the dribblers to get to the other side of the gauntlet without their ball being hit by the passers, who are passing the ball back and forth to each other. This really encourages the skill of dribbling, quick feet and change of direction.
The match the ends with a game called mario kart, where two gates are placed on the half way line. If any team dribbles through the gate then their opposition has to freeze for 3 seconds, allowing the team who went through the gate to take advantage!! This is a really fun game and works pretty well, if the use of gates is encouraged!
A decent session at St Michaels! We won't be having them for two weeks due to exams.
Our next session was at Ellerslie school where the ability isn't the best. The session went okay but we had many disruptions, halfway through our session the head of PE teacher took out nearlly 20 boys for not wearing Ellerslie branded PE kit, which kind of through the session up in the air for a few minutes.
Our car had been making a horrible noise the whole day and after Ellerslie it sounded even worse! It sounded like two pieces of metal grating against eachother whenever I pressed the brake pedal and it even made a noise when we were just strolling along. It affected my braking quite a lot so I didn't feel confident to drive a round trip of an hour and a half with dodgy breaks, especially in the countryside! Luckily when we called the school to say that we had mechanical issues, they informed us that it was cancelled anyway.
Rafael rang up the rental car company and they came over to our house about an hour later to take our car to the garage. They replaced our car with an awesome van which looks pretty suave!
Very long day ahead tomorrow, 12 hours to be precise. Last session with St Winifred's too which is a bit of a shame! :(
All the best
Luke
Tuesday.
Early rise today, my alarm was set for 6:45, meaning we would be leaving just before 7:30.
Our first school today was St Michael's. The sessions always go well here but sometimes the concentration lacks, the field we have is really good and has hardly any cracks which makes a change! We did our scheduled session for the week which incorporates dribbling right from the warm up and drill and then finally an added restriction in the match which translates the skills they've learnt! So we started with a warm up exercise which is called foxes and rabits which really emphasises change of direction and quick feet. Our drill is called "Dribbling Gauntlet" which again is all about dribbling. The layout is that there is students, the passers, facing each other on 4-8 cones spread a fair distance apart, opposite eachother. Then there is 2-4 "dribblers" at the top and bottom of the gauntlet. The aim of the game is for the dribblers to get to the other side of the gauntlet without their ball being hit by the passers, who are passing the ball back and forth to each other. This really encourages the skill of dribbling, quick feet and change of direction.
The match the ends with a game called mario kart, where two gates are placed on the half way line. If any team dribbles through the gate then their opposition has to freeze for 3 seconds, allowing the team who went through the gate to take advantage!! This is a really fun game and works pretty well, if the use of gates is encouraged!
A decent session at St Michaels! We won't be having them for two weeks due to exams.
Our next session was at Ellerslie school where the ability isn't the best. The session went okay but we had many disruptions, halfway through our session the head of PE teacher took out nearlly 20 boys for not wearing Ellerslie branded PE kit, which kind of through the session up in the air for a few minutes.
Our car had been making a horrible noise the whole day and after Ellerslie it sounded even worse! It sounded like two pieces of metal grating against eachother whenever I pressed the brake pedal and it even made a noise when we were just strolling along. It affected my braking quite a lot so I didn't feel confident to drive a round trip of an hour and a half with dodgy breaks, especially in the countryside! Luckily when we called the school to say that we had mechanical issues, they informed us that it was cancelled anyway.
Rafael rang up the rental car company and they came over to our house about an hour later to take our car to the garage. They replaced our car with an awesome van which looks pretty suave!
Very long day ahead tomorrow, 12 hours to be precise. Last session with St Winifred's too which is a bit of a shame! :(
All the best
Luke
Tuesday, 27 May 2014
Day 23
Day 23
The dreaded St George's was our first stop today!
Our first group we decided to do quite a heavy warm up with them to tire them out and then do a big match. Mostly because the 11 a side goals had been erected for the first time since we had started coaching them.
Our second group was much younger so therefore we decided to do a fun races warm up. This is an exercise which Shaz had used in Uganda that worked really well. You split the group up in to 5 teams, with 5-9 people in each team, and you place 9 items in a square opposite to the starting point. Then each person from the team will grab one and bring it back.. The first team to bring back all of their items, Wins!! Obviously all the items ads football related, for example cones, balls, bibs etc. The second variation involves a similar format, however if you collect the bib, you must put it on before you come back, if you collect a cone, you must run back with it on your head, if you collect a ball, you dribble back with it. Despite the lack of listening, the boys really enjoyed it and it lasted a very long time before we got into a match!
Our second session was at Lester Vaughan where we got our usual group of around 10-12. The boys and girls seemed really lacklustre today, with a total lack of energy! The warm up went okay but it was obvious as the session progressed.. their energy levels would decrease aswell as their enthusiasm. We won't have them for the next two weeks because of an exam period break.
We ended the day at Alleyne but due to a football match, the session was cancelled which was a shame! I really enjoy the Alleyne group!
Not a bad day in all fairness!
All the best
Luke.
P.S more pics to come tonight
The dreaded St George's was our first stop today!
Our first group we decided to do quite a heavy warm up with them to tire them out and then do a big match. Mostly because the 11 a side goals had been erected for the first time since we had started coaching them.
Our second group was much younger so therefore we decided to do a fun races warm up. This is an exercise which Shaz had used in Uganda that worked really well. You split the group up in to 5 teams, with 5-9 people in each team, and you place 9 items in a square opposite to the starting point. Then each person from the team will grab one and bring it back.. The first team to bring back all of their items, Wins!! Obviously all the items ads football related, for example cones, balls, bibs etc. The second variation involves a similar format, however if you collect the bib, you must put it on before you come back, if you collect a cone, you must run back with it on your head, if you collect a ball, you dribble back with it. Despite the lack of listening, the boys really enjoyed it and it lasted a very long time before we got into a match!
Our second session was at Lester Vaughan where we got our usual group of around 10-12. The boys and girls seemed really lacklustre today, with a total lack of energy! The warm up went okay but it was obvious as the session progressed.. their energy levels would decrease aswell as their enthusiasm. We won't have them for the next two weeks because of an exam period break.
We ended the day at Alleyne but due to a football match, the session was cancelled which was a shame! I really enjoy the Alleyne group!
Not a bad day in all fairness!
All the best
Luke.
P.S more pics to come tonight
Monday, 26 May 2014
Day 22
Day 22
Shaz and I ended up staying at Aran's friends apartment last night due to the fact that we both had a drink and it was pretty late. It was the safest thing to do and there was enough space for us all to stay there. They're all a right laugh and very easy to get along with!
Shaz and I both woke up around 7:30 and drove home! We had decided the night before that Sunday would be dedicated to the boatyard!! Knowing that, we thought it was wise to go home and catch up on some more sleep before hitting boatyard!
Shaz had a few hours kip where as I took the time to Skype my grandad via my brothers phone, speak to my brother and then my parents! It was really nice to see my grandads face and of course his dog! Still with a an hour or so left to spare... I started to watch my favourite film of all time... Willy Wonka and the chocolate factory from 1971! That film always reminds me of my childhood and in general, its such a good film, don't judge me!
We got to boatyard at 12:15 and paid our 40 bajan dollars to enter, which is about 12-13 pounds. When we thought about it the price it's actually so reasonable. My 40 dollars got me lunch, 3 drinks, entry to the place itself, sunbed and umbrella, use of all of the facilities (shower, locker, rides/attractions, toilets, wifi etc?) all for 12 pound! Not bad at all.
We really made a day of it and stayed there until 5 o'clock, sunburnt free, it was an excellent day and really chilled out, it was nice to spend some time with Evan, Aran and his girl friends.
After a hot day, everyone wanted a ice cream so we headed to Chilly Moo's which is an American ice cream parlour, full of dozens of flavours and toppings. Shaz typically went just for a plain cookies and cream, because (in her words, not mine) is a "delicate flower". I promise she just said that as I'm writing this. It's only a matter of time before she has another ailment. I went all out and got caramel and toffee ice cream with white chocolate buttons, oreo's and rainbow sprinkles (for that special touch of manliness). It was very nice, but quite sickly. Next time instead of getting the full works, I think I'll just get a tub of bubble gum or mint chocolate ice cream. My two favourite flavours.
An awesome day, back to work tomorrow! A relaxed weekend was just what the doctor ordered.
All the best
Luke
Shaz and I ended up staying at Aran's friends apartment last night due to the fact that we both had a drink and it was pretty late. It was the safest thing to do and there was enough space for us all to stay there. They're all a right laugh and very easy to get along with!
Shaz and I both woke up around 7:30 and drove home! We had decided the night before that Sunday would be dedicated to the boatyard!! Knowing that, we thought it was wise to go home and catch up on some more sleep before hitting boatyard!
Shaz had a few hours kip where as I took the time to Skype my grandad via my brothers phone, speak to my brother and then my parents! It was really nice to see my grandads face and of course his dog! Still with a an hour or so left to spare... I started to watch my favourite film of all time... Willy Wonka and the chocolate factory from 1971! That film always reminds me of my childhood and in general, its such a good film, don't judge me!
We got to boatyard at 12:15 and paid our 40 bajan dollars to enter, which is about 12-13 pounds. When we thought about it the price it's actually so reasonable. My 40 dollars got me lunch, 3 drinks, entry to the place itself, sunbed and umbrella, use of all of the facilities (shower, locker, rides/attractions, toilets, wifi etc?) all for 12 pound! Not bad at all.
We really made a day of it and stayed there until 5 o'clock, sunburnt free, it was an excellent day and really chilled out, it was nice to spend some time with Evan, Aran and his girl friends.
After a hot day, everyone wanted a ice cream so we headed to Chilly Moo's which is an American ice cream parlour, full of dozens of flavours and toppings. Shaz typically went just for a plain cookies and cream, because (in her words, not mine) is a "delicate flower". I promise she just said that as I'm writing this. It's only a matter of time before she has another ailment. I went all out and got caramel and toffee ice cream with white chocolate buttons, oreo's and rainbow sprinkles (for that special touch of manliness). It was very nice, but quite sickly. Next time instead of getting the full works, I think I'll just get a tub of bubble gum or mint chocolate ice cream. My two favourite flavours.
An awesome day, back to work tomorrow! A relaxed weekend was just what the doctor ordered.
All the best
Luke
Saturday, 24 May 2014
Day 21
Day 21
Saturday!
We had our usual weekly community session today with 6 boys. The session is meant to be for 3 hours but in truth the boys are absolutely knackered after an hour and a half due to the heat. So we do our session from 9-11, we stretch the boys as far as we can but it's very tricky to do 3 hours with 6 boys. Mr Martindale fell ill today at the session and was having really bad stomach pain and he was vomiting, luckily the principal arrived shortly after and was going to take him to the doctors. Shaz and I hope he's okay!! He looked in a pretty bad way.
Shaz and I hit the beach after our session to relax after a hard weeks work and more importantly to even up my typical English boy tan. My arms and legs are brown but my stomach and back are pasty! Always funny seeing new tourists arriving to Barbados, some pasty, some bright pink with sun burn accompanied by a mixture of slapped on thick sun lotion! Mullins beach is always a good visit, very nice beach bar and beautiful blue sea! There's even fish in the water which is quite cool to see, pretty big ones too!
It was the champions league final today so Shaz and I went to Bert's sports bar to watch the game and grab some lunch! The food was so nice and both of us were so stuffed at the end of our meal, we waddled out of the bad!
Think we're going to go to meet up with Evan, Aran and his friends tonight down St.Lawrences gap! Should be fun!!
Enjoy your bank holiday weekend if you're England guys!!
All the best
Luke
Saturday!
We had our usual weekly community session today with 6 boys. The session is meant to be for 3 hours but in truth the boys are absolutely knackered after an hour and a half due to the heat. So we do our session from 9-11, we stretch the boys as far as we can but it's very tricky to do 3 hours with 6 boys. Mr Martindale fell ill today at the session and was having really bad stomach pain and he was vomiting, luckily the principal arrived shortly after and was going to take him to the doctors. Shaz and I hope he's okay!! He looked in a pretty bad way.
Shaz and I hit the beach after our session to relax after a hard weeks work and more importantly to even up my typical English boy tan. My arms and legs are brown but my stomach and back are pasty! Always funny seeing new tourists arriving to Barbados, some pasty, some bright pink with sun burn accompanied by a mixture of slapped on thick sun lotion! Mullins beach is always a good visit, very nice beach bar and beautiful blue sea! There's even fish in the water which is quite cool to see, pretty big ones too!
It was the champions league final today so Shaz and I went to Bert's sports bar to watch the game and grab some lunch! The food was so nice and both of us were so stuffed at the end of our meal, we waddled out of the bad!
Think we're going to go to meet up with Evan, Aran and his friends tonight down St.Lawrences gap! Should be fun!!
Enjoy your bank holiday weekend if you're England guys!!
All the best
Luke
Friday, 23 May 2014
Day 20
Day 20
Friday!
This week has gone so fast!! Next week I will be starting my 4th week in Barbados, time flies so fast it's untrue, Shaz and I were reminded by a presenter on the radio that we're almost into our 6th month of the year, halfway the calendar year of 2014! Absolute madness.
I looked at my blog yesterday to see that I have almost 1,500 views which I'm pretty happy about! Hopefully I can beat 6,500 views which I got from my South African blog. Fingers crossed! I was informed that my nan (Grandmother) is still reading everyone of my blog posts thanks to my aunt printing them off and sending them via post! So if you're reading this Nanny June.. Hello!!!!
We started the day by having a meeting with Axel and staff at Barbados Community College. Myself, Shaz, Aran and Evan are running a course that teaches a group of aspiring PE teachers from the ages of 14-40 to teach football. The group is about 40 people big and is run on Wednesdays and Friday for the next 5 weeks. The participants have already completed modules in Analytical skills, over a dozen sports plus practical and theory modules. But now we are going to be helping them in the aspect of teaching and football. We have to provide them with what we have learnt over the last year and educate them on the rules of football and laws of the game which should be fun seeing as I did all of that for my referee course that I completed in the past. We've been given a lot of reign over the course, for example we register them, we can give them exams, homework and we come up with all of the content to teach them like worksheets, revision notes etc. Literally like proper teachers! We have theory classroom time and practical times so there should be a good mix of stuff. I can't wait for it to start because I'm studying sport and physical education next year at university so this will be a great experience for me!! Both John Olaleye and Steve Eadon provided us with alot of education so we will definitely be using all of what we've learnt!!
Our second session was at colleridge and parry which was a bit of a flop because we only had half an hour with them because they had a match. This meant the boys didn't want to get tired and also because some didn't have kit to change into as the school provides them with kit for their match.
Our last session was at Christchurh foundation school which is always a fun session! We had 28 participants, a mixture of boys and girls which was nice for a change. 28 participants is a pretty good number considering our session was an after school session and that exams are coming up!! I had a nice little bet with a handful of boys aswell before the session started. I put forward a proposal.. If I hit the bar, they do two laps, if I miss.. I do two laps. Considering it was quite far out and at a tight angle I knew my back was up against the wall, however they sharply replied "yes sir, yes sir, do it!!". To my absolute amazement I hit it, I guarantee I will never be able to do that again in my life and I'm sure the boys enjoyed their two laps!!
Not sure what tonight's plans hold!
Quite a blabbery, long blog post tonight! Hope you stuck with it.
All the best
Luke
Friday!
This week has gone so fast!! Next week I will be starting my 4th week in Barbados, time flies so fast it's untrue, Shaz and I were reminded by a presenter on the radio that we're almost into our 6th month of the year, halfway the calendar year of 2014! Absolute madness.
I looked at my blog yesterday to see that I have almost 1,500 views which I'm pretty happy about! Hopefully I can beat 6,500 views which I got from my South African blog. Fingers crossed! I was informed that my nan (Grandmother) is still reading everyone of my blog posts thanks to my aunt printing them off and sending them via post! So if you're reading this Nanny June.. Hello!!!!
We started the day by having a meeting with Axel and staff at Barbados Community College. Myself, Shaz, Aran and Evan are running a course that teaches a group of aspiring PE teachers from the ages of 14-40 to teach football. The group is about 40 people big and is run on Wednesdays and Friday for the next 5 weeks. The participants have already completed modules in Analytical skills, over a dozen sports plus practical and theory modules. But now we are going to be helping them in the aspect of teaching and football. We have to provide them with what we have learnt over the last year and educate them on the rules of football and laws of the game which should be fun seeing as I did all of that for my referee course that I completed in the past. We've been given a lot of reign over the course, for example we register them, we can give them exams, homework and we come up with all of the content to teach them like worksheets, revision notes etc. Literally like proper teachers! We have theory classroom time and practical times so there should be a good mix of stuff. I can't wait for it to start because I'm studying sport and physical education next year at university so this will be a great experience for me!! Both John Olaleye and Steve Eadon provided us with alot of education so we will definitely be using all of what we've learnt!!
Our second session was at colleridge and parry which was a bit of a flop because we only had half an hour with them because they had a match. This meant the boys didn't want to get tired and also because some didn't have kit to change into as the school provides them with kit for their match.
Our last session was at Christchurh foundation school which is always a fun session! We had 28 participants, a mixture of boys and girls which was nice for a change. 28 participants is a pretty good number considering our session was an after school session and that exams are coming up!! I had a nice little bet with a handful of boys aswell before the session started. I put forward a proposal.. If I hit the bar, they do two laps, if I miss.. I do two laps. Considering it was quite far out and at a tight angle I knew my back was up against the wall, however they sharply replied "yes sir, yes sir, do it!!". To my absolute amazement I hit it, I guarantee I will never be able to do that again in my life and I'm sure the boys enjoyed their two laps!!
Not sure what tonight's plans hold!
Quite a blabbery, long blog post tonight! Hope you stuck with it.
All the best
Luke
Thursday, 22 May 2014
Day 19
Day 19
Thursday.
Our first session was at 10:10 today at Frederick Smith. Our session with this group last week went well however we had some right moany murtles. Today was totally different! A boy called Kyle, who was very agitated last week and quite negative was actually the best student their today, smiling throughout the session and volunteering all the time to take part in the demonstrations! Shaz and I really enjoy seeing kids change week by week. That's what I like about the programme we're on in Barabdos, in comparison to South Africa we get to see our students 6-7 times, where as in South Africa it was more like 1 or 2.. which means you don't see much change in the kids in terms of their footballing skill but also their behaviour!!
Speaking of behaviour.. our next session was at Alma Paris! Notoriously this is the school where kids get sent when they have been expelled for example. Today we had a small amount in comparison to usual. Normally, we have around 30-40, today we had 16 or so! You would think this would mean that the session was easier to handle.. you're wrong! The session itself went okay in all honesty, but the kids literally just swing punches at each other for the littlest things. I've found that interacting with the kids and having a bit of banter with them helps to an extent.
Our last session was cancelled by Harrison college because most boys are revising after school because of the exams coming up!
Meeting up with Aran and Evan again tonight! Aran has some friends over from the UK so it should be fun!
All the best
Luke
Thursday.
Our first session was at 10:10 today at Frederick Smith. Our session with this group last week went well however we had some right moany murtles. Today was totally different! A boy called Kyle, who was very agitated last week and quite negative was actually the best student their today, smiling throughout the session and volunteering all the time to take part in the demonstrations! Shaz and I really enjoy seeing kids change week by week. That's what I like about the programme we're on in Barabdos, in comparison to South Africa we get to see our students 6-7 times, where as in South Africa it was more like 1 or 2.. which means you don't see much change in the kids in terms of their footballing skill but also their behaviour!!
Speaking of behaviour.. our next session was at Alma Paris! Notoriously this is the school where kids get sent when they have been expelled for example. Today we had a small amount in comparison to usual. Normally, we have around 30-40, today we had 16 or so! You would think this would mean that the session was easier to handle.. you're wrong! The session itself went okay in all honesty, but the kids literally just swing punches at each other for the littlest things. I've found that interacting with the kids and having a bit of banter with them helps to an extent.
Our last session was cancelled by Harrison college because most boys are revising after school because of the exams coming up!
Meeting up with Aran and Evan again tonight! Aran has some friends over from the UK so it should be fun!
All the best
Luke
Day 18
Day 18
Wednesday
We had St Winifred's to start the day off. They gave me my whistle and cards back which I thought I had lost!! I was very grateful! The session went well and much like the other groups we had coached that week.. We focused on control. Once again the principal joined in and the kids were awesome, sad to think that was our penultimate session with them!
Our next school was Daryll Jordan which went well considering the state of the pitch! The field (or pasture as the bajans say) was ridden with huge cracks. It was as if an earthquake had hit, you could see right down the crack! It was like a crack leading to some other realm like Narnija! Shaz and I both buckled over a couple times and the kids even more so! Crazy! The pitches are pretty bad out here, so dry and cracked but June is rainy season so hopefully it'll sort itself out a bit! That would help our sessions so much!
Our last scheduled session was at the lodge however we got extremely lost and ended up miles away meaning by the time we got there we would have been extremely late. We rang the school to notify them of our situation and to let the kids know that we were deeply sorry that we had to cancel the session.
For the rest of the night we relaxed and wrote up some session plans for the next day!
All the best
Luke
Wednesday
We had St Winifred's to start the day off. They gave me my whistle and cards back which I thought I had lost!! I was very grateful! The session went well and much like the other groups we had coached that week.. We focused on control. Once again the principal joined in and the kids were awesome, sad to think that was our penultimate session with them!
Our next school was Daryll Jordan which went well considering the state of the pitch! The field (or pasture as the bajans say) was ridden with huge cracks. It was as if an earthquake had hit, you could see right down the crack! It was like a crack leading to some other realm like Narnija! Shaz and I both buckled over a couple times and the kids even more so! Crazy! The pitches are pretty bad out here, so dry and cracked but June is rainy season so hopefully it'll sort itself out a bit! That would help our sessions so much!
Our last scheduled session was at the lodge however we got extremely lost and ended up miles away meaning by the time we got there we would have been extremely late. We rang the school to notify them of our situation and to let the kids know that we were deeply sorry that we had to cancel the session.
For the rest of the night we relaxed and wrote up some session plans for the next day!
All the best
Luke
Day 17
Day 17
Tuesday
Not a bad day today in all fairness! Despite the long hours of working, every session today went swimmingly and there was no troubles!
Shaz and I visited 3 schools today, St.Michaels, Ellerslie and Grantley Adams. We had two sessions at St Michaels, 32 kids overall (16 in each), 28 at Elerslie which was brilliant and 10 at Grantley Adams.
Our evening consisted of going to Olympus Cinemas to watch Bad Neighbours with Zac Efron and Seth Rogen as the main actors!! We watched it in VIP with Aran And Evan which essentially meant that we had a waiter and someone who showed us to our seats, the seats reclined and we had a foot rest! All for 21 dollars which is about 7 quid in England. which is cheaper than a normal ticket in England!!
Decent day
All the best
Luke
Tuesday
Not a bad day today in all fairness! Despite the long hours of working, every session today went swimmingly and there was no troubles!
Shaz and I visited 3 schools today, St.Michaels, Ellerslie and Grantley Adams. We had two sessions at St Michaels, 32 kids overall (16 in each), 28 at Elerslie which was brilliant and 10 at Grantley Adams.
Our evening consisted of going to Olympus Cinemas to watch Bad Neighbours with Zac Efron and Seth Rogen as the main actors!! We watched it in VIP with Aran And Evan which essentially meant that we had a waiter and someone who showed us to our seats, the seats reclined and we had a foot rest! All for 21 dollars which is about 7 quid in England. which is cheaper than a normal ticket in England!!
Decent day
All the best
Luke
Tuesday, 20 May 2014
Day 16
Day 16
Monday
Nightmare of a start today! We were at St George's and yet again the kids were a big challenge! We tried to implement the most basic of sessions for them but yet they still couldn't do it. Shaz and I personally fill that they wouldn't care either way whether we were there or not, half don't join in and the ones that do, put minimal effort in. By the time they finally decided to come out and get changed.. We had 25 minutes with them. Shambles!!
We have two sessions with St George's one session from 9:10-10:30 and the second, with the 12-13 year olds at 10:40-11:30. Shaz and I both are glad that that's our first session on a Monday.. Because then it's out of the way! In all fairness the second session went well and were 10x better than the first bunch!
Anyway.. Enough negativity!!
Our next session was at Lester Vaughan which was a big improvement. The boys and girls are lovely there but the numbers aren't so generous, only 10! But never the less the session always goes well.
We finished the day with a drive to Alleyne school. This session went great and the turnout was brilliant.. About 24 kids! It poured down on the way there for a couple minutes and it made the roads so greasy and slippy. We went round one corner slowly but still managed to slide and drift round a corner and nearly crash. It was so scary! Shaz said my face was so funny, I was a right nervous Neville after that. I felt like a rally driver skidding round that corner, I had no control of my car. Somehow I managed to regain the steering just before hitting into the cliff/rock but boy was I scared! I genuinely wasn't going fast at all, so it was either the grease on the floor or a lack of grip on my tyres! Scary stuff!
Never a dull moment!
We have agreed to meet up with Evan and Aran tomorrow to watch bad neighbours at the cinema tomorrow! Can't wait
All the best
Luke
Monday
Nightmare of a start today! We were at St George's and yet again the kids were a big challenge! We tried to implement the most basic of sessions for them but yet they still couldn't do it. Shaz and I personally fill that they wouldn't care either way whether we were there or not, half don't join in and the ones that do, put minimal effort in. By the time they finally decided to come out and get changed.. We had 25 minutes with them. Shambles!!
We have two sessions with St George's one session from 9:10-10:30 and the second, with the 12-13 year olds at 10:40-11:30. Shaz and I both are glad that that's our first session on a Monday.. Because then it's out of the way! In all fairness the second session went well and were 10x better than the first bunch!
Anyway.. Enough negativity!!
Our next session was at Lester Vaughan which was a big improvement. The boys and girls are lovely there but the numbers aren't so generous, only 10! But never the less the session always goes well.
We finished the day with a drive to Alleyne school. This session went great and the turnout was brilliant.. About 24 kids! It poured down on the way there for a couple minutes and it made the roads so greasy and slippy. We went round one corner slowly but still managed to slide and drift round a corner and nearly crash. It was so scary! Shaz said my face was so funny, I was a right nervous Neville after that. I felt like a rally driver skidding round that corner, I had no control of my car. Somehow I managed to regain the steering just before hitting into the cliff/rock but boy was I scared! I genuinely wasn't going fast at all, so it was either the grease on the floor or a lack of grip on my tyres! Scary stuff!
Never a dull moment!
We have agreed to meet up with Evan and Aran tomorrow to watch bad neighbours at the cinema tomorrow! Can't wait
All the best
Luke
Monday, 19 May 2014
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