NIS Sports: January 2010

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Outdoor Athletes Class, Saturday 16 January: Cloudy Hill Hike

During the next Outdoor Athletes class, we will be hiking on Cloudy Hill. This will be a hike of around 90 minutes- we won't get to the top of the hill, but hopefully we will make it about half way up, where we will get some fantastic views of Pat Sin Leng, Tai Po town, Tolo Harbour, Tai Mo Shan, Hong Lok Yuen, and the Tai To Yan ridge.

This short hike is part of one of this term's themes: 'Planning Outdoor Activity'. Over the 8 weeks of this term, I want to the kids to learn the basics of estimating time, distance, and speed of movement, on foot in the hills. This is a vital component of outdoor safety: basically, knowing how far you can walk before it gets dark.

During the hike, I will also be teaching them the basic ideas of fire safety in Hong Kong's countryside. This is a high-risk time of year for hill fires, and I will be explaining the principles of planning a hike with fire safety in mind, and the actions they must take on seeing or smelling flame or smoke in the hills.

Any parents who want to come along are most welcome!

Rugby Words You Need To Know

Attack the corners! - Something Mr. Blain shouts. It means, you are close to the try line. Look at the corners and pass the ball to someone who can score in the corner. Defending teams always forget about the corners. See also- Cover the Corners!
Ball carrier- the attacking team player who has the ball.
Ball lost - In Touch Rugby, if the ball is dropped on the ground or knocked forward. Turnover to the other team; rollball.
Beach rugby - Version of Touch Rugby that we use when we want a quick game, an indoor game, or a game with less than four players in each team. In beach rugby, we don't do a Rollball. After getting touched, the touched player stops, brings the ball into contact with the ground, and passes immediately to a team mate.
Bunching - Something Mr. Blain shouts. Bunching is when players forget about their line and position and come running in to get near the ball. Bunching is a sure way to let the other team score. Bunching drives Mr. Blain CRAZY.
Cover the corners! - Something Mr. Blain shouts. When you are defending, it is easy to forget about the corners of the field. The other team will attack them. Cover them by keeping position out wide. See also: Attack the corners!
Deep - a position behind the ball carrier; not 'flat'.
Flat pass - a pass that goes directly sideways across the field, not backwards.
Flat- in a straight line across the field from the ball carrier.
Football - this is what they call rugby in Australia.
Forward pass - a pass that goes forward instead of flat or backwards; against the rules in all rugby games.
One-Touch - South African version of Touch Rugby. Turnover after every 'touch'. Very useful training game.
Rollball - place the ball quickly on the ground in front of you and step over it or roll it back between your legs with your hand. Do a Rollball after you have been Touched, or after a turnover.
Rugby - Any game where the ball cannot be passed forward and the ball is oval shaped. See: TAG rugby, Touch Rugby, One-Touch, Six-Down, Rugby Union, Rugby League, Fiji Touch, Beach Rugby
Rugby League - A version of rugby. In League, you stop after you are tackled and restart the attack by rolling the ball backwards between your feet- a rollball. TOUCH Rugby is most like Rugby League.
Rugby Union - One version of rugby. In Union, you don't stop after you are tackled. The game is continuous. TAG rugby is most like Rugby Union.
Six-down. South African name for Touch Rugby.
Soccer - game with round ball rolled around with the feet. Also called 'football'.
Space - one of the most important and valuable things on a rugby field. Always, always, look for, search for, run for, fight for, SPACE. You are in space when you have a clear sight of the try line in front of you; there is no defending player in your way.
Spread! - Something Mr. Blain shouts. It means, right after a tag or a touch, get wide and find space.
Tackle- whenever you do something to stop an attacking player going forward with the ball, that is a Tackle. At NIS, we usually Tackle by Tagging or by Touching. In adult rugby, Tackling means grabbing, holding, wrestling and knocking down the Ball Carrier. This is called Contact. All NIS Rugby is Non-contact.
TAG - The name of a type of rugby, played with 'tags' or 'flags' attached to the waistband. Tackle by taking the tags off another player. After you are tagged, pass the ball immediately to someone in your own team.
TAG count - see tackle count.
Tap - a way of starting the game after a try is scored or after a penalty. Place the ball on the ground and touch or kick it very lightly with your foot. Pick it up right away. Pass it or run with it.
Touch - the name of a type of rugby. Also, 'a touch' is when you touch another player during the game. A Touch is a type of Tackle.
Touch count - the number of touches allowed before a turnover. In real tournaments, the touch count is six. In training games, it can be anything from one to unlimited.
Try - this is what we call it when we score in rugby. If you carry the ball over the Try line, you have scored a Try: one point.
Try line - the beautiful white line at the end of the field. Always keep your nose pointed at this line. Always attack this line. If you can carry the ball over this line, you have scored a Try. A Try is one point in Touch or Tag rugby. One Try is good; many Tries is great. Attack the Try Line.
Turnover - give the ball to the other team.
WIDE AND FLAT - Something Mr. Blain shouts all the time. It means, find a position out to the side of the field and in a line with the ball carrier.
Wide- out to the side of the ball carrier; not close.
Width - along with Space, one of the most valuable things you can find on a rugby field. You have width when you are out to the side of the field, with no defending players in front of you. When you have width, you can attack different points of the try line. Think about width all the time. Move sideways and outwards after every tag or touch. Width is everything in rugby.

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Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Outdoor Athletes Class, Saturday 16 January: Cloudy Hill Hike

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