Saturday Football Coaching

At the beginning of the last year we got the opportunity to take over the Saturday morning football coaching sessions. It was started by the students of the class of 2017, and then carried on by the class of 2018. As the DP2 stu

dents of 2017 were leaving in preparation of the exams, Savannah, Mayank, Chiara and Alessandro took upon themselves the responsibility to continue Saturday classes with the young children. This was the perfect opportunity for us to challenge ourselves in an area that all of us are passionate about.

During the first few months, our

main aim was to get to know the kids and slowly start planning the sessions that will help them to improve their game. At the same time, we had to make sure that the kids were enjoying the sessions. Through planning every week and collaborating together as a team, we ensured a smooth transition from our seniors who lead these coaching sessions in the previous year. Slowly and steadily we were getting better at planning, organizing, and conducting the sessions. This gave us the confidence to organize a small parents and kids tournament at the end of the last academic year. This was the perfect way to end the year and also to say goodbye to the kids who were leaving the school.

Following a really good start we continued these sessions in the new academic year. We wanted more kids to participate in these sessions so with the help of Ms. Jodi, Ms. Carla and Ms. Helen we promoted the Saturday football coaching among the PYP kids in the first few weeks of the new academic year. This resulted in a huge number of new kids signing up for these sessions. As much as we were looking forward to this, we knew that this was going to be really challenging task. In the first few sessions we had to adapt and plan accordingly. In order to make these sessions of the highest quality each of us had to contribute and take up different responsibilities.

We faced a few problems at the beginning but we were determined and kept working together, pushing each other to perform at his/her best ability. Indeed, we had to rearrange ourselves many times when student c

oaches had to leave the project for other responsibilities. From the original group of coaches, Zain, Arjun and Lorenzo left in March of 2017. That was when Alessandro, Mayank, Chiara and Savannah joined. Towards the end of her DP1 school year, Chiara left, to take up other CAS activities. Savannah had to leave at the end of DP2 Semester one to pursue other sports, however Maciej, from MYP5, had already joined the group. The remaining student coaches, continued to take care of the growing number of kids, since there was always somebody joining in. We were all responsible for the care and well-being of all our football players and if one got injured, it was a challenge to bring them to the nurse while making make sure that the others are not left alone.

We focused on planning sessions that were enjoyed by the kids and at the same time improving their game. Slowly we could see improvement in the players and knew that we had to keep this consistency throughout. As a coaching team, we learned how to bring the best out of each other and that really helped us in producing top quality sessions. Our final test was to organize another mini-tournament but this time only including the kids. We knew with a larger number of kids this was not going to be as easy as the last time. A lot of planning went behind organizing this. By working together with Ms. Jodi, she really helped us organize a great tournament for the kids. Our target at from the beginning was to improve the game of the kids and at the same time ensure that the kids ha

ve fun. This tournament was a test for us to see if the kids had actually improved or not. We could clearly see that the kids had improved their game. We could see all the drills that we use to carry out on a weekly basis were being applied by the kids in match situations. We saw a real competitiveness showed by all the players and we could see that none of the teams wanted to lose and were fighting till the last minute of each match to ensure victory. All of us were very satisfied with this as we were able to build a balanced winning mentality, which is really important going ahead.

As a team and as individuals, we gained a lot of skills through this experience. There is no doubt that this experience is going to help us in the future. The collaborative skills, leadership skills, the challenges that we faced and overcame as a team really made this experience a special and memorable one. We would like to thank Ms. Jodi, Ms. Carla and Ms. Helen for helping us to make these sessions of the highest quality.

Demonstration of a DP CAS Project: A creative engagement of students in the IB Diploma Programme is the experiential Creativity, Activity, and/or Service learning project. This authentic project-based-learning experience is one that best shows the stages of investigation, collaboration, preparation, action and demonstration

By: Alessandro Romano (DP2), Maciej Skiba (MYP5), Mayank Kabadi (DP2),

Chiara Soldi (2^nd semester of DP1), and Savannah van Berkel (1^st semester of DP2)

Photo courtesy – Sean Clinton and Carla Swinehart

Human systems and economic activities	The study of how and why people construct organizations and systems; the ways in which people connect locally and globally; the distribution of power and authority.
Social organization and culture	The study of people, communities, cultures and societies in the ways in which individuals, groups and societies interact with each other.
Continuity and change through time	The study of the relationships between people and events through time; the past, its influences on the present and its implications for the future; people who have shaped the future through their actions.
Human and natural environments	The study of the distinctive features that give a place its identity; how people adapt to and alter their environment; how people experience and represent place; the impact of natural disasters on people and the built environment.
Resources and the environment	The interaction between people and the environment; the study of how humans allocate and manage resources; the positive and negative effects of this management; the impact of scientific and technological developments on the environment.

Living things	The study of the characteristics, systems and behaviours of humans and other animals, and of plants; the interactions and relationships between and among them, and with their environment.
Earth and space	The study of planet Earth and its position in the universe, particularly its relationship with the sun; the natural phenomena and systems that shape the planet and the distinctive features that identify it; the infinite and finite resources of the planet.
Materials and matter	The study of the properties, behaviours and uses of materials, both natural and human-made; the origins of human-made materials and how they are manipulated to suit a purpose.
Forces and energy	The study of energy, its origins, storage and transfer, and the work it can do; the study of forces; the application of scientific understanding through inventions and machines. (IBO, 2009)

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