American Football

Thursday was a busy day!
The weather was a big windy and gloomy, but we were all ready for the activities!

Our first class was a soccer class but unfortunantly, they don't allow women to play.  This seemed a little strange because in America we never even have to think about whether we're allowed to play a certain sport or not.  It was also strange because our group consisted of 8 females, so we would have all had to sit out.

I say 'would have' because we actually didn't have to sit out of anything!  Two of the students who were traveling around with us brought their own ball and they said we could play our own game on a nearby field.  Although I personally couldn't play because of my leg, it seemed like everyone really enjoyed it!  The thing about the classes there is that it doesn't matter who wins as long as everyone is enjoying themselves.  I know that sounds cliche but that's really how it was.  I wish America could incorporate those thoughts a little more because I'm sure more people would eagerly participate in sports, PE and extra curriculars if they knew they wouldn't get made fun of for not being the best.

After soccer, we were scheduled to go to a basketball class.  I was also unable to participate in this class, but it was so fun to watch!  Again, the theme of fun overrode the ideas of winners and losers.  After a warmup, the teams were split into Americans and the Polish students.  We knew they would be better than us, since they're taking the class, but we still had high hopes!  Our team actually didn't fall too far behind, and it was a blast to watch!  A couple of our students managed to give themselves small injuries.  One girl rolled her ankle on a practice shot while another ran into the bleachers trying to fight for the ball.  Here's a few pictures of the injuries:

Another thing that stood out to me was the sportsmanship.  Even when we made a basket, the other team cheered just as much as they did for their own team.  I thought that was very interesting because we would never think to do that in America.

We had a short lecture after basketball on taping.  It was an interesting lecture and it was neat to see how everything worked.  When I've seen it done before it looked like the tape didn't really go in a specific area.  After learning a detailed description about the tape I learned that it is actually a precise method to applying the tape. 

It was coming to the end of the day and all of the students were ready to have a few hours off.   Then we found out we were going to watch football.  We were all thinking, "okay, we already played soccer today" but it turns out we were invited to watch American Football!  Once we heard that, I think the group was a little more excited to go.  We drove about ten minutes and arrived at a field where a warmup was happening. 

Every one of the players were so friendly and eager to learn all that they could about our style of football.  We watched the practice and some of us even joined in.  On the sidelines, myself and a few others were just tossing the ball and learning a few basics about football.  I think this was one of my favorite sports because it was so fun to watch people try to learn a sport that is idenifiable to the U.S.

Here are a few picture of the football practice and players:

In the Illinois State hoodie is Sebastian, one of our students.  He was the only one that actually went through the entire drill with the players and he was worn out after!!  We have no idea how he found the energy to do it!