Healthy Living

The Tackle Health programme began in January 2008 and is kindly sponsored by Wilbourn Associates. Tackle Health aims to address the growing problem of childhood obesity and inactivity. A combination of classroom-based activites and outdoor physical sessions introduces young people to the benefits of a balanced diet, the need to keep their heart and lungs healthy, and gives them the tools they need to keep themselves active.

Tackle Health does not only focus on rugby, showing young people a range of different activities that they can get take part in, depending on the number of people that are taking part and the equipment they have available. Tackle Health creates opportunities for young people to attend Doncaster Knights matches and meet with the first team squad so that the children can have experience of the professional sporting environment and learn from the players themselves about health and fitness.

TACKLE HEALTH HAKKA

DIRECT FITNESS

I have been running DIRECT fitness in over 4 NDC (New Deal for Communities) schools to children of all ages, over two half terms. This involves the children:-

Understanding the components of fitness (what makes up fitness) – these are power, strength, flexibility, body composition, anaerobic, aerobic, speed, agility.

Fitness testing on these components – simple test in order to see to what they are and how well they can do them.

The principles of fitness – how do you actually gain these components e.g. time and effort.

Perceived rate of exertion (understanding how hard they work) – using their own heart rate in order to see how hard they have actually been working and also to make them more aware of how hard they are working by self assessment.

Understanding of skeletal muscles – going through different muscles' names and what they do/actions.

All of these are modified for the different age groups in order to better facilitate their certain levels.

Stewart Cullen - Rugby Development Officer

May 2009