Hendrik Pierson College ontvangt spelers LHV
Bericht geplaatst op 25 november 2011
Langhenkel Volley visit Hendrik Pierson College
Onderstaand stuk is geschreven door Ollie Kimber en is speciaal voor de kinderen van het Hendrik Pierson College in het Engels geschreven. De clinic is namelijk ook in het Engels gedaan.
On Tuesday the 22nd of November, the players and coaches of Langhenkel Volley took a day away from practice and made a trip of around 60km to visit Hendrik Pierson College. The point of the trip was for the players to give two clinic sessions to three selected sports classes through the school day, as well as getting the kids more interested in playing volleyball and promoting our club.
At 9:30am, the players and staff left Doetinchem to make the 60km trip to the college, in time for the first clinic which began at 11am. On arrival, the players caused quite a stir and doses of excitement throughout the school as they walked through the large open corridors all dressed in team tracksuits towards the gym in which the clinics would take place.
The sessions throughout the day would all be very similar in substance, with the kids going through drills to practice upper hand volleying, under hand passing, serving and spiking. The final 20-25 minutes of the session would be kept for some small matches where the kids could incorporate their newly practiced skills into match situations and have some fun with the players who would join in.
The first clinic was from 11am to 12:50pm and involved 17 kids aged between 13-15 years old. To start the session, Head coach Joel Banks began with giving an introduction of all the players and with an explanation to the kids of what they would be doing. To have the biggest impact possible on a coaching side, the players would float around while the kids were performing their set task and give pointers on technique and thought process in where to play the ball. As each skill was explained, a couple of the players would also demonstrate how exactly to perform the skill and give the kids a visual of the ‘perfect’ execution.
As the first clinic came to an end, it was time for the players to have some lunch, of which had been made up by the catering department of the college, and also have a discussion about how the next clinic will work. The second clinic was slightly different from the first in that there were two groups of 26 kids, instead of one of 17, and also that they had to be taken in English instead of Dutch. This aspect was a good chance for the English speaking players to lead a bit more in the coaching side, and also great for the kids to practice their second language. As there were two groups of kids for this session, the players and staff also split themselves into two groups, with 5 taking one group and 5 taking the other. Apart from the change in language being spoken, the layout of the session stayed the same as the on earlier in the day, with the kids going through all of the basic skills used in volleyball and ending with some matches.
Throughout both clinics, the kids embraced the game very well and seemed to really enjoy being taught by and playing alongside some professional players. The day was ended with some more food made by the catering class of the college, and with a tour of some of the facilities.
Overall the day was a success in its aims, and was finished with an invitation for all of the kids and teachers to come to one of Langhenkel Volleys home matches in the A-League, of which was accepted with an emphasis of excitement. They will all be attending the match against Reflex on the 17th of December in the Rozengaarde.
