Friday Night Takeaway

"A pandemic is never a good thing. It’s a terrible thing. But maybe some good can come from it. Anything that disrupts our usual ways of being can lead us to try new ways of being, ways that might in the long run be improvements or guide us to improvements." 

Professor Peter Gray

Coronavirus School Closures: An Educational Opportunity

Almost all of us have experienced some disruption to our daily lives of late and the sporting world (well the structured sport settings at least) has almost shut down completely. Players have fallen out of their routine of weekly team training and weekend league fixture but the practice and play hasn't stopped. It has been hugely refreshing to see lots of young players continuing express their love for their sport through individual practice and personal challenge. Young players, parents, sports clubs and coaches have extended this further by inviting others to join in with their practice or to experiment with a new skill. Through social media the sports world has created a mini community of practice through the sharing practice attempts - inspiring individual practice and play in the process.

The 'lockdown' caused by the Coronavirus outbreak led to me reintroducing an old favourite of mine, The Friday Night Takeaway - an initiative I first trialled back in 2017 and have subsequently shared with Primary School, Secondary School and Grassroots Club communities. The initiative has always been very well received with reports of higher engagement and increased volumes of physical activity / individual practice. 

This time out (updated March 2020) I've adapted it by designing it in the style of a menu so to provide players with greater variety and choice - both important factors when it comes to motivation.

These 'takeaway menus' were designed for a group of footballers aged 11, 12 and 13.

Friday Night Takeaway aims to provide all children with an engaging and often challenging physical, technical or social task to attempt over the weekend and / or week ahead. Originally the aim was to draw some meaningful physical returns out of routine day-to-day activities (such as brushing teeth or going on a family walk). Above all else the children and their families engage really well with the concept and seem to really love it!

Below are a few examples of the early FNT challenges:

These challenges are, of course, entirely voluntary. Many challenges will come with different levels, with each asking a little extra of the participating player. Siblings and parents may wish to get involved also.

Every Friday during the COVID lockdown period I intend to share a new ‘takeaway menu’. These will be aimed at groups aged U11, U12 and U13 and with the intention to inspire individual practice during this period of time when they are away from their friends, clubs and school. Of course all Takeaway challenges can be adapted to meet the needs of different age and ability groups.

Would love to hear people’s views as to how we can make these better and please do feel free to use with your own groups within your own sporting setting. 

Many thanks for taking the time to engage with the blog.

Take care, keep practising and above all keep safe over the coming weeks and months.

Note: Following requests I’ve added a few extra challenges in the comments section under this blog post for families to ‘takeaway’ and try out over the next few weeks. Enjoy