School Spirit

Straight off the bat from our excursion to the local National Park alpine rainforest on Friday, today saw the entire 3/4 Unit catch a couple of buses across town to the local Showgrounds. There, amidst the mild May rain, beneath the blanket of cirrocumulus clouds blocking out the sun, and rolling through the damp grassy expanses of the town’s main oval, they were to run through a gamut of various fun footy skills, all under the eye of players from the St Kilda Football Club.

Well, we were there, and so were the players… but it didn’t quite turn out like that.

Seems they decided to pack up all the activities because of the light rain once we got there. This disappointed the kids, but it seems it was done to avoid the possibility of any injuries. The kids now reckon this is the one reason why St Kilda will never win a Premiership. How can you expect to be the best if you’re too scared the play in the rain? The kids were all fired up, but they got over it.

Instead, both schools who had turned up were ushered into the members’ bar rooms. First there was one inside session with a few players, then a question and answer session with the others in another part of the building. The first activity? Heads and Tails.

You know the game. If you choose Heads, you stand up one end of the room. If you choose Tails, you stand up the other. The coin is flipped, and the winning side stays in the game and another round begins. Easy. Now picture it with approximately 100 kids! Can you imagine what was going through our minds at this point as teachers?? Yup. Chaos and bedlam! To be fair though, the kids kept themselves under control fairly well, and the footy bloke managed to keep them all entertained through three entire games of this before we eventually decided enough was enough and sent the entire lot of them for a run around the outside of the oval.

Next, it was in to share questions and answers with the other players. I must say that the three we spoke with did a fantastic job. They listened and answered all the kids questions and kept their attention all the way through, often having them rolling with laughter at various spots too. They came across as very nice individuals and the kids left raving about them. Even kids wearing different coloured footy tops were lining up to get their backs and sleeves signed. The players themselves, they thought it was great signing their names on the guernseys of teams they didn’t even play for!

All up, it turned out to be a good afternoon, even if I didn’t get to man the tackle bags activity this year. I was really looking forward to that…

You can line the kids up and absolutely smash them into the ground, and they think it’s absolutely brilliant!

I call it ‘Name Your Mark’.

Maybe next year, eh?

Sunday morning, the sun’s already belting down before nine in the morning, and anyone with half a brain is planning on spending the last day of their weekend holed up indoors either camped in front of their air conditioners or spending time with a bag of granny smiths inside the crisper compartment of their fridge. Not me. No, this particular Sunday, with the mercury tipped to rise up like a furious Messiah beyond 38 Celsius, I’m driving into town to the club’s presentation day. Why? Because when they said to me in November, ‘hey, you’re here killing time after work anyway, and you work with little buggers this age, you can coach the Under 12s!’

And me? I said, ‘yeah, okay’.

Jokes aside though, this day is probably the most important of the year for those kids, even though I doubt they realise it. They turn up to train once a week before the older teams and are usually all finished and back home again before the senior players rock up later in the afternoon after work. They turn up each Wednesday afternoon after school and run around like mad cats across the various local ovals across town chasing red leather balls or, if someone’s actually managed to take a catch, after each other. We don’t technically keep track of who wins or loses these matches, and if they ask ‘did we win’ and we reply ‘well, you played really well’, they tend to grab each other in communal group hugs or ’stacks on the mill’ cheering ‘we won, we won!’ Life can be so simple when you’re young, eh?

Despite all that, and the fun and enjoyment they get from just getting out there and having a red hot go, I still think that the presentation day at the end of the season is one of the most important for them. It’s the one day when the rest of the club actually realises they’re there. The Under 14 and 16 teams play each week and with luck reach finals and, appropriately, are talked up to the rest of the senior members of the club. When they play finals, there’s always several members of the senior teams turning up to support them throughout the day. Not so the Under 12s.

Presentation Day is the one day of the year when the rest of the club recognises that they are a part of the club, and importantly, they’re the future of the club. This is what I tried to bring across making my impromptu speech handing out their little trophies. Not only were they being presented to the club on Sunday, but I made sure I mentioned something particular about each young kid too. They’re not just little tackers running around in games that don’t really count through the week, these are kids that love the game, love playing together and are the future of the club.

I was rapt at the end when they presented me with a parting gift for the season. A cricket helmet… the last piece of gear I needed and was too stingy to buy! Now, after three seasons, I finally have a full collection of gear. I should have held out and tried to get them to give me a cricket bat next year, eh? But I guess the one item I’ll treasure most is the photo of the team. It’ll end up on a wall somewhere around here an, one day, when some of these kids reach the A grade team, I can look back and think ‘I can barely play this game, but bugger me, this kid playing A grade… I was his first coach!’

Anyway… although their presentation only lasted about twenty minutes, the rest of the club was now aware of who these little fellers were, and they now knew something more about them.

Once that was over, lunch arrived, the rest of the presentations were made, the kids all went home, and we watched the Under 16s play the Legends (over 40s) in the now annual challenge match. The young fellers did well, but the Legends retained their undefeated status and much amber fluid was consumed.

Once the game concluded and most went home, with the day still hot and dry, somehow the buckets came out and anyone who wasn’t quick enough or wasn’t paying attention got drenched in water. I didn’t end up dry until I got home at 11pm! Couldn’t really complain though, eh? I figured if a kid could now come up to me, give me that little cheeky glint in his eye and then throw a full bucket of water at me and not grizzle when I caught the bucket and tipped the last half on him, then I guess that’s respect of a sort, eh?

It’s the respect I’d prefer, anyway!

Guess I’m coaching next year now too…

Related posts: Coaching Under 12s… the final cricket match of the season.

Technorati Tags: cricket, kids sport, coaching.

In the shadow of the local paper mill, with the smell of acrid chemicals and paper pulp wafting across on the late summer afternoon breeze, and the tic-tic-tic of the high tension powerlines tapping a staccato of mild electrical radiation overhead, our Under 12 cricket team fronted up to play their final match of the season. Their opponents appeared, dressed all in white and looking rather intimidating as they walked by with their five foot of height as most our little blokes ricked their necks looking up to see their faces. A team of grade six and year seven kids striding past them, and our rag tag bunch made up mainly of kids just starting grade four. Could it have been more daunting?

How about we play by Under 14 rules instead, eh? That’d do it. Last week, you’re in with your partner for four overs. If you go out, you get to stay around until your four overs are completed. Today, you can stay in for longer, but once you’re out, tell your story walking, sunshine, because your day at the crease is over, champ!

Even if you’re out first ball.

This is no backyard cricket, my lads.

You mean… you can even go out LBW??

Well… nah, I’m not calling LBW today, that’s just nasty.

So, yes. Today our Under 12s played their final match, with Under 14 rules. If you go out, you’re out. But at the same time, if you make 15 runs, we decided to retire them to give the other kids a hit anyway. If they sat around and blocked everything and I was in danger of falling asleep umpiring at square leg, then they were retired as well. We only had twenty two overs to play with and fourteen kids to get out there.

The kids played with a really good spirit, all said and done. Only one managed to get retired, and that was mainly because he took too long, but he came back at the end to finish his innings after everyone else had gone out. One poor little feller found out cricket’s a mongrel of a game when he was bowled first ball. The rest, even if they went out after only a few balls, seemed to take it fairly well in their stride. They seemed to know that they could get their own back when they bowled after tea.

In fact, the first thing the youngest little feller said when he was run out at the end was ‘okay, where’s the pizza?’

I have no idea if we won or not. We never bother adding up the bowling scores, just our batting scores. It’s Under 12s. It doesn’t matter who wins. Just get out there and have a crack and a bit of fun. The kids ran off the field thinking they were winners anyway, because each time we took a wicket, the batsman was out of the game. Little victories are enormous when you’re ten!

Seeing a ten year old turn bowl a ball to have it snicked by the batsman and caught behind, then turn to appeal to you with the biggest grin you’d ever see on his face… that’s Under 12 cricket.

Seeing the rest of the team play ’stacks-on’ as they all pile on top of him a few moments later… that’s Under 12 cricket.

Seeing the little feller stagger to his feet once the kids crawled off him… that’s just funny.

Here’s to next season… but thankfully not until October!

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Technorati tags: cricket, kids sport, coaching.