Christmas Message – 圣诞快乐

Rugby Coaching Video – Catching High Ball

Football Coaching Video – how to shoot (basic)

May Days – April news

Happy Labour Day！

April this year was manicly busy, with a large number of activities to take part in.

First of all, the new red clay tennis courts officially opened on the 14th at SRFC, the largest facility of it’s kind in Shanghai with our new tennis partner, the China Elite Training Association (CETA) starting up simultaneously. Six SFA coaches started professional tennis training in March which included 4 theory classes and 40 hours of on court coaching. The training culminated in an exam and are now on the way to completing there first stage tennis coaching accreditation.

On the 14th of April our head football coach Woody had the privilege of refereeing the Prentice Skottowe football match between England and Scotland’s expat communities (last played in the 1940s). Accompanied by Xibin and Xuqinghau, Woody well managed this emotional encounter which saw Scotland lose 6 – 3.

Sunday 15th April, the Youdao Charity foundation held a biannual sports day for migrant school children. Sponsored by 12 socially minded corporates, 120 of their staff participated in fun activities for 142 children. Xie Yan and her team created a host of football, rugby, cricket, and American football related games followed by a BBQ and raffle draw.

The following week, Dudley Farrell of the GAA visited SFA from Ireland. Profiting greatly from 4 days of training including foundation coaching activities approved by the GAA as well as a codes of conduct course, Dudley was a great help actively helping the team resolve specific work related problems, and before leaving, kindly left us with a host of new equipment.

HSBC and Swire battled it out on the 21st in a combined cricket and rugby extravaganza, organised by one of our Executive Committee, Ainsley Mann. 42 kids from Tongmeng and 30 from Xuhui primary schools watched the matches after showcasing their own rugby talents on a windy Shanghai afternoon.

The annual KPMG sports day on 24 April was conducted in bright 28 degree sunshine. SFA coaches refereed more than 2000 typically competitive staff participating in a host of fun activities – relay race, tug of war, water challenge, – promoting fair play and fair minded sports activities.

Coach Intro

Name: Zhang Yicheng

Sport: Cricket

As a cricket coach, our role is different from other SFA coach activities as cricket is not as widespread as other sports here and many of the kids arguably have never heard of the sport. As a result we have to continually think how to better evoke student interest. During my time, I’ve encountered a number of difficulties with the children, not least, a lack of team work, frequently complaining about each other, which we have to turn into mutual encouragement and cooperation; lack of respect for coaches and other participants has to be turned into respect for other people; a lack of safety awareness, we have to teach the children how to manage their own safety (including regular hydration, proper rest, safe play etc).

After half a year of experience with 3000 plus children, I think I can resolve any issue now, from any angle.

At SFA, I am continually developing cricket coaching plans, as well as studying elements of other sports in detail to achieve comprehensive growth.

My motto: have hope, have no fear. The Audacity of Hope….

Happy Easter!

March News.

First of all a big welcome this month our new sponsor, Jaguar Land Rover and look forward to a long lasting relationship with them.

In early March, 6 coaches attended basic training at the MLB Development Centre in Wuxi, where they not only witnessed regular MLB training matches but also learned some advanced techniques and coaching methods, a great help for SFA baseball activities.

This month we started tennis training with our new partner, the China Elite Training Academy, CETA. Our red clay tennis courts are under construction, to be opened mid April, when tennis becomes an official new SFA sport. putting even higher demands on our coaches.

SFA sports leagues have officially started for all sports, over the next 2 months, we’ll see 20 champions emerging from our 4 sports programs. We look forward to some good efforts from the kids, great team work, match results and seeing them win honours for their schools and class.

The weather in March was pretty grim with inordinate amounts of rain so many of our Huangpu classes were conducted indoors. We showed the kids some prepared video footage of international matches and competitions which generated huge amounts of interest and from time to time pose questions related to video content, prompting them to think  and learn more.

Our Jiangxi project closed this month, having successfully run this for one semester, we learnt much in terms of management and operation experience, and our coaches made some great friends – a great experiment but sadly unsustainable.

Coach Intro:

Li Jie, hung up his football boots with Henan Jianye football club, where he gained ten years professional training. Too many injuries prevented him from continuing a professional career leaving Li Jie with a strong sense of regret, however a great love of football convinced him to embark on another career in football education. Many thanks to SRFC for providing this opportunity for work and study. Li Jie’s personal objectives are to get more children involved in football, learn more about the game and improve their own physical attributes. Make people happy through football!

Football Coaching Video

Cricket Coaching Video

Rugby Coaching Video

Semester Leagues have officially kicked off

Tomb Sweeping day brings successive days of driving rain, witnessing the league days for students participating in all our sports activities. First up are the football league matches, long anticipated by the students; after half a semester of practice and learning the students are itching to show what they’ve learned on the sports field.

Also our March coaching video (throw ins) is eagerly anticipated viewing by the kids and parents…