Today, Friday the 31st of March, I went to an Athletics Coaching Course in Sandford Park School with Emma, Rachael Cullen, Claire, Rachel Whitten and Elena Tice. Ms Scott asked me, a few days ago, if I’d be interested in attending this course, as by completing this course I would be qualified to help coach the younger years. Immediately I said yes, as it seemed like an interesting and practical course! I then asked a few others if they’d like to join me doing the course, and by Friday there was four of us going. To be honest, I’m not entirely sure why I was asked to do this course as I’m not really a talented and skilled athlete, unlike the others doing the course with me! I was silently hoping it would be more theory than us racing or doing the actual activities as I feared I would be the least experienced athlete there! A little nervous but mostly excited I climbed into the mini bus on Friday morning and sat beside Emma. It was a beautiful day, the sun was heating the windows making them almost too hot to touch! When we arrived at Sandford Park, I suddenly recognised it. I remembered playing a competitive tennis match here last year with Emma! We ambled into the sports hall, and were shown to our seats. There were a less schools than I had expected, there was Loreto Dalkey, Mount Anville, Muckross, Sandford Park and a couple of other schools. I wondered why we only brought girls with us, since there were some boys attending the course as well. Without further adieu the course commenced and a very athletic-looking lady appeared in front of us and a Powerpoint Presentation came into view behind her! Tennis courts at Sandford Park! The first part of the course focused on the theory of coaching. We were explained in great detail the procedures for being a good and successful coach, as well as the different types of coaching methods and the benefits of each type. In addition we were told all about health and safety, and the responsibility of being a coach. There were many other fascinating slides included in this presentation, but I won’t bore you by explaining them all! Before our break, we had to depict the ‘perfect coach’ on a large piece of paper. I teamed up with everyone from Gerard’s and we drew a massive stick-man and wrote all the qualities of a ‘perfect-coach’ around the page. I was nominated to present and explain our depiction to the rest of the students! I learned a great deal about coaching athletics in those two hours. During break we got to explore the school campus a little, and I was surprised how the atmosphere around this school was very different to Gerard’s! It felt almost as if we were in a university, as there were many different buildings which students came swarming out of for break, and for some reason there seemed to be many variations of the uniform! The fact that there seemed to be many international students added to that ‘university feel’! Sandford Park Campus! The next part was outdoors! We were shown how to do different types of warm-ups, and we also had to do them ourselves. The grass was damp, so before the morning was over we were all muddy and wet! It was interesting learning the numerous different warm-ups we could do with younger athletes, there were many I had never seen or heard of before! During this activity I started talking with a few of the students there, and they were very friendly! After a nice lunch in the town of Ranelagh, we entered the sports hall once again for another theory session. I listened attentively and took mental notes on useful tips and advice that I could employ in the future. With only one more session to go, and just under three hours left we meandered outdoors to the sports field. Here the coach demonstrated the long jump and the shot put. We each got the opportunity to try both activities ourselves, and the coach watched us as we did the activities and gave up tips on how to improve. I wasn’t great at either activities (thankfully not the worst either!) but nonetheless I really enjoyed myself. After attempting the long jump and shotput we were briefly shown the methods of teaching these activities to younger athletes. I can confidently say I know almost all the techniques involved in the long jump and shot put(even though when I do them, it doesn't seem to work as good as it should!). The long jump! The shot put! To bring this interesting course to an end we were shown how to operate the starting blocks. Starting blocks are a device used in the sport of track and field by sprint athletes to hold their feet at the start of a race so they do not slip as they push out at the sound of the gun. I believe I was one of the few people who had never used the starting blocks before, but I was there to learn! I know my sister uses starting blocks often, as she does a lot of running competitions. Lastly we did a relay race, boys against girls (which I thought was a little unfair!). It was lots of fun and very exciting as both teams had equal speed, but at the very last moment the girl fell and so the boys won the race! An image of starting blocks, and Usain Bolt on the starting blocks I had a wonderful day out, and I found the course very informative and practical. I will try to remember all information I learned today, so that I can coach the younger students in the best way possible! If anyone is thinking of doing this course next year, I would certainly recommend it, as you get a lot out of it.
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