Scotsports

You’ll need

Soft balls
Tennis net (or long rope)
Baskets
Tennis ball
Junior tennis rackets
Masking tape
Courts and rules sheet

Courts and rules

PDF – 147.9KB

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Before you begin

Decide where you’ll play – you can see how much space you need in the ‘Courts and rules’ sheet.
Decide whether you’ll play both games at once, or one after another. It’ll probably depend on the amount of people, space, and equipment you have. We’ve suggested that everyone play netball, and between two and four people take it in turns to have a go at tennis, but you don’t have to do it like this.
Set up the courts, and make sure your equipment’s suitable, with the guidance in the ‘Courts and rules’ sheet.

Introduce the sports

Explain that everyone will play two sports that are played in Scotland: netball and tennis.
Explain that tennis was introduced to Scotland in the Middle Ages. Now, lots of Scottish people follow tennis because of Andy Murray, who has won Wimbledon twice.
Explain that netball emerged from early versions of basketball and evolved into its own sport. Netball reached the UK in the 1890s. In 1946, when Netball Scotland was founded, most netball in Scotland was played in the Glasgow and Lanarkshire area.
Now, it’s spread throughout Scotland. Netball Scotland’s vision is for ‘netball to be the first choice sport for women and girls in Scotland’. Men can play netball too (and men’s teams exists on the club, national, and international level).

Play netball

Everyone should split into two teams. The two teams should try to dress differently – perhaps everyone in one team could wear jumpers or hi-vis vests.
Ask if anyone’s played netball before. If anyone has, they should help the person leading the game to explain the rules. Check out the ‘Courts and rules’ sheet for the rules if you need to.
Everyone should start playing. Every five minutes or so, the person leading the game should swap our one or two players from each team to have a go at mini-tennis. Once they’ve had their turn, people should resume their position.
One everyone’s had a turn at mini-tennis, the person leading the activity should bring the game of netball to a close.

Play mini-tennis

Ask if anyone’s played tennis before. If anyone has, they should help the person leading the game to explain the rules. Check out the ‘Courts and rules’ sheet for the rules if you need to.
The chosen players should stay in their teams from netball. They should start playing.
After five minutes or so, they should re-join their netball team and some new players should come to give mini-tennis a go.

Reflection

This activity was a chance for everyone to be active with some popular Scottish sports. In this activity, people also moved between two different sports. This helped them to exercise different muscle groups – can anyone feel which muscles they used? If people did this activity again, what other sports might they add? Which parts of the body would they exercise?

This activity also needed people to work as a team. How did teams work together in netball? People might think about sharing the ball by passing it, how they communicated with each other, and how they encouraged each other. If people played doubles tennis, this was another chance to work together. Where did the players stand? It can be helpful for one to stand nearer the net and one nearer the baseline, so they can return different types of shots.

Safety

All activities must be safely managed. You must complete a thorough risk assessment and take appropriate steps to reduce risk. Use the safety checklist to help you plan and risk assess your activity. Always get approval for the activity, and have suitable supervision and an InTouch process.

Outdoor activities: You must have permission to use the location. Always check the weather forecast, and inform parents and carers of any change in venue.
Active games: The game area should be free of hazards. Explain the rules of the game clearly and have a clear way to communicate that the game must stop when needed. Take a look at our guidance on running active games safely.