PDFE #1

Context of Setting:
Who: Boys ranging from age six to age eleven.
What: Jr. Pee Wee Jamboree football scrimmages.
Where: Boys and Girls Club of Northwest Rome, GA.
When: Saturday eight o'clock to one in the afternoon.

Observations:
First I observed the six and seven year old boys playing football on field one.
The activities going on at the Jamboree were safe. The fields were marked off with rope and poles at least five feet from the out of bounds lines. All the side line markers were made out of foam and the field goals posts were covered with padding. The six and seven year old's game was mainly about learning the basics in football, like how to set up before the ball is hiked and where to run when it is hiked. They were practicing their discrete skills of achieving that quick step when the ball is hiked and stopping when the ball is down. At this age these boys are already enhancing their cognitive skills, regarding on the decisions they make on what to do. The coaches were also on the field a lot helping the kids get set for the hike of the ball instructing then in what to do. The six and seven year olds were enhancing their movement skills of muscle memory of how to get down and low so when the ball is hiked they are in a position to tackle the opposing team.This Jamberooray was meant to be a practice for the players in a real game situation. To enhance their capabilities to produce game situation motor skills, while, also, to play in an open skill environment where there are now people watching the athletes play. Unlike at practice where it just is the coach and his or her team. All the players were engaged in the activity because for one it's a recreational setting and everyone on the team is required the same amount of playing time. Each scrimmage consisted of two eight minute quarters of offense and two eight minute quarters of defense, so this even shows that this Jamboree is all about the coaches working with their teams to enhance their athlete's motor learning by observing the athletes motor performance. The activities were developmentally appropriate for the children because they were competing within their own age groups. If I was coaching one of these teams of the ages six and seven I would have made sure each kid was ready for the hike of the ball before the center hiked the ball. So each individual athlete understood what the best position they had to be in to make a tackle, this would have enhanced there motor performance because they would be learning by repetition and correction. Also, in the roles of the Jamboree I would have allowed time-outs to give the coaches time to explain certain aspects of the game to their team. The athletes definitely enjoyed the activity because they were there on their own time. I don't think they would have been there at eight in the morning if they didn't want to be there and enjoyed playing football. What was really interesting was after watching the six and seven year olds; was then observing the ten and eleven year olds. The ten and eleven year olds were noticeably further long in the cognitive skills, but were still in the process of learning more about the basics of football. They still just ran the ball. Because they first have to learn the motor skills that come more natural to them, the skills they don't have to think about when doing a certain task, because they were taught, just like the younger boys, through trial, error and repetition. This age group also had more of a skilled warm up, in they practiced hitting and routes. This shows that the ten and eleven year olds are further long in their motor learning skills and there for perform their motor skills without less hesitation and questioning what they are doing.