Summer Multi-Sport & Socialization Program
Get Sporty, Get Social!
Article Written By: Alexis Burke
August 8, 2014
The difficulty to find appropriate exercise activities is common for parents of children with Autism. Be The Best Sport encourages inclusiveness and the opportunity to express themselves through drills and exercises that help enhance basic athletic skills. Be The Best Sport’s Summer Multi-Sport Program combines learning activities in a small classroom setting with team-based drills and games on the playing field. Be The Best Sports’ activities are led by professional instructors and trained coaches that help the athletes gain athletic and social skills as well as build their confidence.
On Wednesday, July 30th our athletes had the opportunity to learn the basics of football through 30-minutes of educational learning activities in a classroom setting. Athletes participated in a football crossword puzzle, a photo matching game and concluded with a “Questions Game.” By engaging in the football crossword puzzle, led by Coach Edgar, athletes practiced associating words with their definitions; such words included “referee” “touchdown,” and “offense” to name a few. The next activity was a photo challenge in which participants had to spot 10 differences between two similar pictures. Athletes discovered that babies do not belong on a football field and a food menu is not displayed on a scoreboard! The final activity was the “Question Game,” assisted by Coach Evan. Athletes practiced social skills and attentiveness by playing a game in which they were only allowed to ask other players questions related to football. In this game, all questions were answered with a question!
Following the classroom activities, instructors led activities on the field with stretching and drills to warm-up. Athletes participated in five drills for the remainder of the evening’s program. Drills included running several football related offensive patterns including a straight pattern, “hitch” pattern, followed by various zig-zag patterns. Each pattern was followed by a long pass from Coach Edgar and then a run into the end zone for a score! In the fourth drill, athletes had to run straight and alternately run left or right depending on Coach Edgar’s instruction. At the end of the drill, the athletes had to catch the ball and throw it into a net, which helped them practice proper throwing technique. In the fifth drill, athletes were instructed to hop over small hurdles, step in and out of the agility floor ladder and jump into all six rings placed onto the field. After completing the field drills and classroom activities, all participants formed a huddle. On Coach Edgar’s count to three, everyone shouted, “team!” Our athletes had a fun time completing these drills and encouraging each other to succeed—both on and off the field!
