18th April 2010 – The start of something which will grow…….A session was organized to extend the participation in the UK Schools Games to the North of Scotland. Experienced UKSG Head Coach Ian Brownlee, and his Staff, Heather Darling and Ian Cook, had an early start from Edinburgh and Perth to get up to Portlethen Academy for 09.00 to meet the enthusiastic kids.
The sesison had two main targets; to make an assessment of the player’s development needs, and to spread the UKSG message in the hope that some of the players would progress to this year’s competition. The day was spent working on ball control, and attacking play. The Coaching Staff demonstrated the techniques to be worked on, then set up the drills with Heather Darling focusing on the play of the girls’ group.
At the end of the morning and afternoon sessions the 3-a-side games allowed the coaches to see the competitive nature of the players, and their commitment to the process of improving .
Very well done to everyone that took part. The Staff had fun, witnessed a lot of good volleyball, and met some talented young players. The details of the next session are listed below…..note the change of starting time!
Date : 16th May
Venue : Portlethen Academy
Time : 1000 – 1500
At the end of her Aberdeen day Heather Darling said –
‘It was a great opportunity to work with such an enthusiastic group of girls at the Northern Development of the UK School Games preparations. Ranging from S1 – S4 pupils, the girls really took on board all the information given to them to improve their performance. All the players seemed to enjoy the coaches tales of previous UKSG trips at lunch time! I hope this gave them enough of a flavour of the spectacular event to encourage them to attend the remaining trials and benefit from the coaching experience and potentially secure themselves a tracksuit and a trip to Newcastle.
Scotland East Girls head coach Vince Krawczyk will be attending the next trial to meet the Northern girls and help move them further along the development pathway.’
Iain Cook
Scotland North & East Assistant Coach