Development
Irish teachers hail success of Volleyball masterclass in Dublin
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Article Fri, Dec 20 2019
Dublin, Ireland, December 20, 2019. About a week ago, 130 children took part in a Volleyball masterclass for the first time through the action delivered by Volleyball Ireland in cooperation with South Dublin Sports Partnership and with the help of a special instructor, Kristof De Loose of Belgium.
The idea of the session was to get as many touches of the ball as possible, but more importantly to make sure that the children would have fun! The pupils started the activities with a 30-minute fun movement and ball confidence session. Working in pairs, they carried out a range of fun games and activities that uses multiple touches of the ball. Teachers took part in this session too.
After that first series of drills, the kids moved into more skill specific activities, seeing demonstrations of the pass, volley and spike from Volleyball Ireland’s Development Officers. They worked for 10 minutes on each skill. During this time, the teachers received some training of their own.
After a quick break, the participants move into 3v3 throw and catch Volleyball, ably assisted by Transition Year Students. Once they had a grasp of the game, it was time for more fun with a special Glow in the Dark Volleyball activity. All kids and teachers departed exhausted but with smiles on their faces.
Kristof De Loose sharing his knowledge with Irish teachers during the masterclass organised in Dublin
Commenting on the programme Deirdre Kelly of St Peter Apostle SNS said, “Kristof De Loose explained at the beginning that the content of the day was to ensure that all children were having fun, moving and learning a new skill. He demonstrated skills, kids practiced and then he moved on to the next skill. This was highly effective and he reinforced everything in the teacher training session later in the day. The whole day was fun and active – and time flew by. The glow session at the end was brilliant. Volleyball is an excellent sport for children of all abilities, the non-contact element is more inclusive than other sports and the passing promotes great teamwork. I play Volleyball with my classes and it never results in arguments among the kids and I generally have full participation.”
Each teacher has received lesson plans for 8 weeks and this will help them continue teaching Volleyball in school. At the end of the 8-week block, each school participates in a fun Volleyball blitz. During this time, Volleyball Ireland works with local clubs to host weekly junior sessions – thus helping create a transition and link from School to Club.
The idea of the session was to get as many touches of the ball as possible, but more importantly to make sure that the children would have fun! The pupils started the activities with a 30-minute fun movement and ball confidence session. Working in pairs, they carried out a range of fun games and activities that uses multiple touches of the ball. Teachers took part in this session too.
After that first series of drills, the kids moved into more skill specific activities, seeing demonstrations of the pass, volley and spike from Volleyball Ireland’s Development Officers. They worked for 10 minutes on each skill. During this time, the teachers received some training of their own.
After a quick break, the participants move into 3v3 throw and catch Volleyball, ably assisted by Transition Year Students. Once they had a grasp of the game, it was time for more fun with a special Glow in the Dark Volleyball activity. All kids and teachers departed exhausted but with smiles on their faces.
Kristof De Loose sharing his knowledge with Irish teachers during the masterclass organised in Dublin
Commenting on the programme Deirdre Kelly of St Peter Apostle SNS said, “Kristof De Loose explained at the beginning that the content of the day was to ensure that all children were having fun, moving and learning a new skill. He demonstrated skills, kids practiced and then he moved on to the next skill. This was highly effective and he reinforced everything in the teacher training session later in the day. The whole day was fun and active – and time flew by. The glow session at the end was brilliant. Volleyball is an excellent sport for children of all abilities, the non-contact element is more inclusive than other sports and the passing promotes great teamwork. I play Volleyball with my classes and it never results in arguments among the kids and I generally have full participation.”
Each teacher has received lesson plans for 8 weeks and this will help them continue teaching Volleyball in school. At the end of the 8-week block, each school participates in a fun Volleyball blitz. During this time, Volleyball Ireland works with local clubs to host weekly junior sessions – thus helping create a transition and link from School to Club.