Football vs Euro Football

Two things that I remember from training were "PLAN PLAN PLAN" and "If you want to make god laugh, make a plan." These statements seem a bit contridictory, as in you should plan, but odds are they wont work. However, now that this week is over, I understand why both of these phrases are the most accurate when working with children, as their moods fluctuate from day to day. The best example of this would be the Sports Club and our experience with football versus soccer. After playing soccer in our first club period everyone seemed to enjoy it. Participation was high, complaints were fairly low. Although at the end of the day, Zach, Amy and I all heard the kids say how badly they wanted to play football, which we played the following day. Much to our surprise, football did not workout quite as we had though. Firstly, the regulation leather ball we used was not appropriate for all of the campers. I remember seeing Little Josh's face when a pass was coming his way, and I can tell you it was more of a pre-getting-hit-in-the-head face than excitement. Also, football is very stop-and-go, and really only two campers participate in each play. This leads to a bombardment of "C'mon, I was wide open!" And when on defense some players do not wish to participate at all, instead sit themselves right in the middle of the field Indian style. Anyway, I guess what I am trying to say is that from these two days, I was able to make a few conclusions: The more opportunities for everyone to participate the better. Use appropriate level equitment. And finally, even if the counslers think it sound straightforward and simple, and the kids think it sounds fun, it may very well not be a good camp activity. Now that the first week is over, we can all finally take a deep elevator breath and begin planning for the upcoming weeks with a much better idea of what to expect out of our fine group of diverse campers.