Seriously just give me the ball
I never expected to be a Physical Education teacher while I was here but that changed after trying to play "basketball" with the kids at the school. It was very clear to me that they had no idea what the rules were. They played a mix of rugby or football with basketball. Kids would run from one basket to the other without bothering to dribble the ball at all. To top it off everyone played so you had 12 or more players on each team. It was madness. The kids started hounding me to teach them how to play and we finally agreed on a time last Saturday night.
Class is in session
Taking a moment to teach Joseph and Paul
I decided that they could handle playing with 5 players on a team and remembering 3 "new" rules:
(1) If you stop dribbling you can only pass or shoot the ball
(2) You can only move if you are dribbling the ball
(3) No hitting people to try to get the ball
Domnic putting pressure on Abrick
Sarah driving to the basket
I used our whistle from our first aid survival kit and started calling fouls. I've never refereed anything and it was really hard because they didn't really know all the rules. I kept finding myself laughing when they would dribble all the way back to the other team's basket to avoid the defense. "Over and back" will be the next rule to teach them. Plus it was clear that they were trying to do their best and would always get sheepish grins on their faces each time I corrected them.
Smiles all around after a couple good games
With only 5 players on each team the kids really had a chance to play. We could see who the naturals were but we didn't have anybody that dominated the game. They desperately need a basketball that is still round and some practice shooting would help the game flow better. With more people on the sidelines they started having their own fun in parallel.
Sitting on the bench can be fun too
Everyone seemed to have a great time
I would love to see the classes in person! Jeanie K
Go you! Must have been interesting to see what take other people have on a sport that we in the US grow up learning. They couldn't have picked a better teacher, though!