The Fishing Coach

On Thursday 26th I drove back to Wales to pick up the group from Rhos y Gwaliau but I had apparently fallen out of favour with whatever gods control our motor ways, the traffic was dreadful and by the time I got there I knew I would be too late to have dinner with the group. On my arrival I found that the last couple of days had been spoiled by bad behavior of the group in general, initiated by one particular individual.
This is not the place to go into more detail but it is enough to say that the next few hours left me feeling very disappointed that the group had failed to get the full benefit from what should have been a wonderful adventure.

I was forced to have very harsh words with the group and was able to re establish a little order enough to enable every one to get a decent night’s sleep before the long journey home. My experience in the police has shown me the type of home that some of these young people come from but I also know the direction they are going and this really saddens me. So much so that the feeling of despair has not yet left me and I really don’t know how the wonderful people who work with these children full time,cope.

The journey home was a constant battle for order in the bus and as I was driving I was unable to do more than maintain a safe progress. What with the heat and the traffic it was not a journey I was sorry to finish.

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Over the past three years I have been working with Littledown Schoool in Slough. This school provides education for children with special needs and many of the pupils have behavioral problems. I have great respect for the staff at this school and the work they do with what are often very difficult children. The boys from this school are the youngest I coach and I feel that perhaps, it is here that I do the most good. This year I have four days with them and Wednesday 25th was the first of these.

As always I took them to Twynersh Fisheries Complex and we started the lesson with my pendulum exercise. This involves a four meter whip and a plastic casting weight attached to the end with line, just short of the length of the whip. Students are shown how to hold the whip and how to lock the butt of the whip under their forearm to gain maximum control. They are then asked to swing the weight backwards and forwards in front of them, keeping the weight under the whip in a controlled fashion. This teaches them how to hold a fishing rod and how little movement of the arm it needs to manipulate the swinging weight. It helps to develop the fine motor skills they will need for casting and swinging in any fish they catch.

Both boys caught fish during the fishing practice that followed including some nice roach, but their casting will need some work. I expect to meet these boys again over the next couple of years as they progress through the school system.

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