SAISA BASKETBALL

I have made it onto the SAISA basketball team, after about a month of training before and after the christmas break. I haven't played basketball since grade 7, so I have pretty much been learning to play an entirely new sport. This has been pretty rewarding - I have noticed myself improving, particularly my confidence on the court. Trainings are twice a week for two hours, so it is also good excercise.

Being tall, I play "post" on both offense and defense. This basically means I stand down near the hoop and either attempt to shoot from short range, or prevent the opposition from doing so. I'm doing ok at the preventing side of things, but I'm not very good at getting the ball into the basket. I have been learning a particular move called the 'drop step' which is like a shortened lay up taken from a stationary position. This I can do in practice, but using it in a game is more complicated. We have played several practice matches against other schools from Colombo (and also one from Kandy). This has really helped my understanding of how to move and where to position myself, as well as teaching me to be more agressive.

As a team, we have been learning to execute a few different defensive and offensive plays. The "Overload' play is illustrated below (I am player 4 or 5):










Player 1 passes to either Player 2 or Player 3 on the wing.

After Player 1 passes the ball to Player 2: Player 1 cuts to the corner, Player 3 goes to the top of the key, and Player 4 flashes from the block to the high post.

Player 2 passes the ball to Player 4 in the high post.
As soon as Player 4 receives the ball, Player 5 cuts underneath the hoop.












If the defense comes to Player 4, Player 5 is often wide open underneath the hoop for the lay up. If the defense does not come up to Player 4, (s)he can attack the basket with the dribble drive or shoot an open jump shot.

RCCI

I am going to continue with RCCI this term, because I found working with the kids such a rewarding experience. This is again a one hour session each week, which generally involves playing with a group of about 15 kids from the centre. Last semester we also organised a small party at the end of the semester, where we brought in food and played music. It was a really good way to finish, but for next time I would choose a different venue (the cantine was a little crowded) and make sure that the music was better organised.

RCCI was such a challenge for me, and I really enjoyed facing up to that. This term, I have decided to set a few simple goals:

• Find some games/activities on the internet that are suitable for differently abled kids. This is so that we can offer some structure to the sessions.
• Think of a creative way to raise money for the activity - either to donate directly to the centre or to buy them supplies/toys. This may be a more long-term project given my other extra-curricular commitments this semester.

I will also try to encourage the kids to get involved and be active. Their centre is qite small and so their visits to our school are a really good opportunity for them to engage in physical activity. And, as usual, I aim to commit myself fully to each session, to really try and connect with these kids.