A Sunny Saturday Afternoon at CAH

20 posted for a Saturday afternoon game day at the Children’s attention home.  The boys were already playing basketball before we got started, but they still had some energy to burn.  So, we did a slow mosey/walk to the field up the street from CAH and got to it.  Here is what we did:

The Thang:

Mini- COP

SSH x 20, merkin x 10,   windmill x 10, squat x 10, mountain climber x 10

We split the group up and played a friendly, but competitive game of kickball.  There were some good plays, some not-so-good plays, but we all had a lot of fun on a beautiful, late afternoon spring day.  I think the score was 8-7, but it wasn’t important who won the game.  The time we spent together, getting to know each other better and learning from each other, was what it was about.

Welcome FNG/Trek Star who is a friend of  Man of Steel (my son), and also, who we found out today, a neighbor of NASA’s.  He said that he enjoyed himself today and wants to come again.  I was very happy to hear that and hope that he can join us any time we come to CAH.

I told the boys about a news story I saw this week about a high school boy named Gerald Hodges who swam for his high school swim team in Texas.   It’s an amazing story about a young athlete, who could have easily played for just about any sport team at his school.  But instead, chose to join the school swim team.  Gerald could barely swim, but decided to join the swim team because he wanted to learn how to handle failure if it happened (it didn’t).   Being able to handle failures and learn from them, Gerald thought, would make him successful.  This to me, was an incredibly mature thing for an 18 year old to do, and was a powerful message for anyone.  The link to this story is below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R0tjVEncJyg

My thanks to NASA for the invitation to Q.  I have been absent from the CAH for too long and plan on getting there more regularly this year.

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Cones and Bball G-Fit

First off- Cobains on the late delivery.  I had good intentions and then the new site switch- but alas!

11 PAX comprised of 3 adults and a terrific 8 kids (6 of which are from Paradise) attended this morning.  All of the kids got F3 shirts and i could see the change in them as they tanglibly became part of something.

For warmups- we did traditional exerices but ran end line to end line in between.  Next up, 5 cones were set out on the ball court- 1 in each corner and 1 in the center.  Pax had to complete an exercise, run to the middle, exerise, run out to new cone.  Next I found one of our water bottles following our water break.  I had each kid toss the bottle however far they wanted, we all run to it and he calls out an exercise.  Giving them ownership in this really keeps them engaged.  Q’s- get them involved.  They want to help, they want to be “the guy”.  We then split off into teams and played 3 on 3.  Newsflash- I didnt start in HS and have carried those poor skills into adulthood.

We had a great discussion on character and that #charactercounts.  The boys responded well.  I encourage any and all PAX to participate in G-fit.  You do not need to be on Q.  The more times the community sees your face the better!  T-Claps to Chickenhawk, Deacon and Bolt for their leadership and passion here.

 

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G-Fit 2017.28

Today I was endowed with the immensely gratifying responsibility of Q at the Paradise AO.  It was a lot of fun, and having some experience coaching soccer, I found it to be near my comfort zone.  I brought a bag with soccer balls, basketballs, and footballs.  All of which were put to good use.

Warmup:  SSH, Merkins, Windmills, Freddy Mercuries

Mosey down Berry St and back to the courts.

Next we split into two groups for a little relay race competition.  One team has a basketball and the other a football.  Run the width of the court then pass it back to a teammate to run.  Finish when all PAX are across the court.  I think we did this 6 times (each team got 3 times with each type of ball) because no one likes second place and there was always demand for a rematch.

Another set of exercise: 30sec hop on each foot, plank shoulder taps, cherry pickers, oblique crunches

Split to two groups for practicing layups and rebounding.

Lastly, we split into 4 teams for some 3 on 3 half court.  I got paired with Speedy and Roundhouse who both impressed me.  Speedy can launch a ball from well beyond the arc and Roundhouse was very strategic in finding lanes.

It was a blast and seemed pretty apparent everyone has a good time at this AO.  A couple kids even asked to make sure I was coming back which warms my heart like a matchstick.  There’s something here that may not blossom or bear fruit immediately, but with enough diligent investment, I’m sure it will have an exponential return on investment.  T-claps to Deacon and Chicken Hawk for the hard work and guys like Figaro and Optimus for spreading the word to an audience that may not get bombarded by EHs.  Hopefully I have done this service justice.

 

 

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