Frisbee has been one of my greatest passions for over 3 years and has helped me relax mentally and keep me fit physically. It has taught me a lot of skills and experiences which have been implemented outside sports as well. When the school announced a 3-week program to teach governmental school children a set of extracurricular skills ranging from Science, ICT and Sports, I signed up for frisbee in sports instantly as this was an opportunity I wouldn’t miss for the world. I wanted to teach the kids the sport so even they had the opportunity to enjoy a sport which teaches them various skills and morals in real life. We met up with the kids and they were intrigued to learn and play. We taught the children over the span of 3 weekends; However, due to rain and a mismatch in student-to-volunteer ratios, several difficulties were faced. We took matters into our own hands and came up with solutions to make sure the kids got the best experience without any hassle. The event ended with flying colours and the kids had lots of fun. When the kids waved goodbye to us from the buses with smiles on their faces, that was without a doubt the highlight of the experience.

LO2: demonstrate challenges that have been undertaken, developing new skills in the process.

A common challenge between the students and the children was the language barrier since the children came from Gujarati medium schools and not many of the volunteers knew how to speak Gujarati, it was tough to teach the children the technique needed to throw/ catch the disc hence, we gathered all the volunteers who spoke Gujarati and distributed them into different groups to guide and explain while teaching. I too was one of the volunteers who knew Gujarati hence I helped translate skills and instructions to the children for better understanding. Additionally, many times we were ahead of schedule and we weren’t able to think of new games and activities. As an experienced player for 3+ years, I took the situation in hand to provide new activities from my previous learnings and knowledge by coming up with new games that I had played in my past years with my team. 

LO4: show commitment and perseverance in CAS experience and LO5: demonstrate the skills and recognise the benefits of working collaboratively.

There were several times when the rain made it difficult for us to teach outside and we had to shift indoors in a confined space which made it difficult to practice frisbee with a lot of children around. The volunteer to kid ratio was 1:5 which meant the volunteers were less compared to the kids who signed up for frisbee hence we came up with a solution and created stations. One station taught cuts and catching and the others were teaching how to play dog and the bone etc. All volunteers and kids switched time by time with different children cooperatively. All volunteers came together to plan and provide a fun learning experience for the children.

LO6: demonstrate engagement with issues of global significance

Education doesn’t only require academic knowledge but extracurriculars as well. Physical and mental health is as much as important as academics. Sports help keep the physical and mental health sharp. That’s why this community service provided an opportunity for underprivileged kids to experience and learn a new sport which they will remember for a lifetime. 

Coming from a privileged background, I realized not everyone is exposed to such an opportunity to learn and experience academics and extracurricular activities. This opportunity helped me understand just how important education is in a person’s life. 

Learner Profiles:

There were several learner profiles catered to while contributing to community service although the most highlighted ones were communicators as to teach the children a new sport communication was necessary to reach my point to them. Without communication, it would’ve been difficult for them to comprehend and for me to spread my knowledge as well. With the help of it, I was able to teach them the correct posture and method to throw and catch the disc which helped them understand. Additionally, I used open-minded skills as this was a completely new sport for the kids, it was undoubtedly difficult at first to show the correct way to catch the disc. That’s why I kept an open mind, cooperated with the kids and taught them in their own understanding so they can improve with patience and kindness.