USFootyKids in Vegas!

Vegas, Vegas, Vegas………..

Isn’t life harsh? USFooty decides to have their Nationals tournament in Vegas and I have to go out there a week early visiting schools and taking the PE classes teaching footy. You mean I have to get up early and work with the kids? Come on man, this is Vegas! Aren’t I supposed to be going out all night, partying, playing those jingly-jangly machines and sitting at felt tables?

Gee, the last time I visited this place they made me go up in a hot air balloon and I came down married! What’s going to happen this time? I even have to bunk with my old teammate from the Eagles, Marcus Regan. He’s as mad as a hatter. I can only imagine the trouble he’s going to try and get me into!

Well, I have to tell you, Vegas is so much more than bright lights and staying up all night. For starters, it is just the most unreal setting. Every time you look into the distance, the mountains on the horizon look like someone has just painted a picture especially for you. As the sun and scattered clouds pass over, the bright light and shade they cause constantly change the colors of the mountains. It looks so pre-historic, you find yourself imagining T-Rex is going to come bounding around the mountain at any given moment!

The view from Star Nursery Fields

In addition to being the fastest growing city in the US, Clark County, Vegas’ home, is already the fifth largest in the country. There are over 300,000 kids in 260 schools in the public schools alone. It is growing so fast, by the time they print up a map, it’s obsolete already! My contact from the Clark County School District is Adapted PE Coordinator, Barbara Chambers. All it took was one phone call to Barbara and when I told her what I wanted to do, she was immediately excited and couldn’t wait for us to get out here. She has done a magnificent job of organizing a different mix of schools for me and the reaction of the kids has been amazing.

Kicking the Tommy like she's been doing it all her life!

On Monday I visited Walker Elementary School where the kids were superbly behaved. After the usual, “Did you know Steve Irwin” questions we got down to business and the kids were eating up footy like they’d been playing it all their lives. On Tuesday I went to Nate Mack ES and again the kids were very receptive and instant footy fans by the end of their sessions. Today I ventured to Desert Pines High School. The high schools can always be a mixed bag. The kids are at the age where it’s more important to be cool and not be seen to look silly so they can often be a little reluctant to try something new. It’s understandable, they don’t want to be the first one to look like an idiot (in other words, like me!). But obviously they’re also more coordinated, so if they give it a chance, they can also provide the best games and show the most skill.

Sure enough, Desert Pines was a little bit of both. The kids were pretty reluctant at first, but once we got through the skill instruction and started playing the game, they slowly got into it to the point where once we had to end the session, they wanted to know if I was coming back tomorrow and if they’re coach could get me to leave some footies for them. Unfortunately we could only stay at Desert Pines for the morning because the maintenance crew had to mark the field for Homecoming. The way I was going, I think if they had of let me stay all day, they may well have run out on Homecoming day and played a totally different kind of football!

A new kind of kick off at Desert Pines HS

From there I did a quick run to the opposite end of town to John Bass Elementary where we probably had the best bunch of kids I’ve seen yet. Their PE teachers were right on the ball and not only did they want the kids to learn a new game and get a good cultural experience, they wanted them to understand what they’d learned. At the end of the classes we reviewed the sessions and went over some of the different development games we’d played and what concepts of game play they related to.

It’s been a great week so far and CCSD have asked me to come back in February to conduct a PE teacher in-service day. So by this time next year, I reckon a big portion of the fastest growing county in the US will not only be big footy fans, they’ll actually know what’s going on! As for now, I’ve got a middle school tomorrow and what’s that sound I hear? It’s not one of those jingly jangly machines is it???????????

- Denis Ryan
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