Active Sprocket Rockets For Active Schools Week – Kilkenny
Last week was Active Schools Week in Ireland (25-29th April), with schools right around the country focusing on increasing physical activity during the day. CBS Primary School in Kilkenny embraced the week with Cycling Ireland’s Sprocket Rocket Taster Session, with Sprocket Rocket Instructors Róisín Hickey (Cycling Ireland) and Eugene Mullally (Marble City Cyclers) volunteering their time in the schools, instilling good cycling skills in a fun environment, while giving back to a sport they both love.
In total almost 100 children took part in the cycling skills course that was set up in the school grounds with the ages of the second and third class students ranging from 7-11 years. The fun obstacle course which was set up in the school yard included limbo poles, stop boxes and a slalom, testing the young riders on the four key Sprocket Rocket skills: Balance, Braking, Cornering and Pedalling. After a few trial runs the children were timed, which brought out the determination in the cyclists, with the coaches encouraging them to beat their own best time.After the session Róisín was delighted with how the session went saying “it was such a successful session; some of the kids were a bit wobbly at the start, but after practicing the course a few times their skills really came on. They were all really happy and had a lot of fun.”
Róisín’s son Tadhg was one of the students who took part, and said “my friend’s and I had so much fun, the limbo pole was my favourite, and my mum did not embarrass me too much!”
Eugene also enjoyed delivering the Sprocket Rocket Taster saying “The sessions went very well; we tried a few different sessions like using the hand coordination to pick up a ball and drop it into a bucket. We finished off with a few sprints in pairs and a couple of laps of the pitch. I had great fun doing it and loved interacting with all the kids – especially having my own son in one of the classes, it make my day.”
A taster zone is a fun experience for both riders and coaches, testing the cycling skills throughout. Eugene's zone started off with the riders cycling through green cones and coming to a full stop at a set of red cones, after which they picked up a ball off a traffic cone and threw it in a bucket, continuing on through a series of slalom cones and under a limbo pole. Then one rider would go to the left, with the next going to the right, and they cycle around an arc, making their way back. The next set of green cones signalled them to sprint as fast as they could to red cones. Their times were given to them, and after this they all did two laps of the pitch, where they got all their energy out.
