Chichester International

 

23th of OCTOBER:

 

 

Taekwondo

Yvette

 

When I saw the college list of different sports I could sign up for, I saw that taekwondo was on this list. I have never done such a sport, so I though why shouldn’t I try this. Together with a girl from my class we went to the first training. We first had to do a warm-up and after that we got some protectors we had to kick and hit. We learned some different kick methods, which were really funny. At the end we learned some self-defence: how to floor someone who is holding you. I had a lot of fun this lesson, so we decided to go back the following week.

However this training was less fun. We thought that it would be fun to kick and hit each other again, but we couldn’t do that this training, except for the last 10 minutes. The rest of the training we had to learn a dance, which you use to start the taekwondo match. This was really boring and I didn’t want to learn this because I only came to learn the kicking and beating. They were really serious that we had to learn this, so I decide not to continue these lessons. Although, it was really nice to learn a bit about this sport.

 

 

 

16th of OCTOBER:

 

Rock climbing

Miino

 

Rock climbing is held on Monday and Wednesday at 4.30-6.00.

When you go into the gym in the ground floor, turn left, and there it is!

Firstly, we put on the shoes for the rock climbing. And then,

we put on harness tightly. And now, you’re ready!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

But don’t rush. You can’t climb the wall alone. You have to make a pair or a group of three. One people climbs the wall and the others are in charge of the ropes. Before we climb, two people (including a climber) put on the rope to their harness. Then, climb! While they climb, other people stays in the ground pulling the rope so the climber won’t fall onto the ground. After they went to the top, climber lets go of the wall and hold on the rope. Now, people in the ground lets go of the rope slowly, and the climber goes down to the ground.

Some of the wall is leaning in the angle. But don’t worry, beginners (includes me). There is an easy vertical wall to climb for you guys. If you have question, just ask the coach!

If you have interest in rock climbing, go to the sport centre, apply for it, and pop up on Mondays and Wednesdays!

 

 

 

ZUMBA

Emilie

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hockey

Yvette

Hockey is a popular sport in a lot of countries, especially in the Netherlands. In the last European Championship the Netherlands lost in the finals against England, with shoot-outs.

Chichester College offers also hockey trainings. Every Wednesday, Becky prepares a training. The first day we practised there were only 3 people, so we couldn`t do a lot except from shooting on goal. Nowadays more people come to the trainings, and we are able to do small matches against each other. The only difficulty is that the level of hockey is really different. Some people play hockey really well and others are just beginning to learn how to play.

Becky told me that last year there was a real college hockey team with enough people. I really look forward to seeing that happening this year too.

 

 

 

9th of OCTOBER:

 

ZUMBA

Hey there!!

Emilie

 

Every Thursday afternoon at 4.30 p.m we go to Zumba. It is really nice because the teacher is always smiling to us and she enjoys the moment with us! We do some exercise without getting too tired, because it is really motivating. Music helps a lot in this sense. It is very stirring and there is quite a wide variety of songs, from popular contemporary English music to music from other countries, such as France or Spain.

A lot of students like us are joining this course, so there are people from many different countries: Japan, Spain, China, France, the Netherlands. Then, we can get to know to new and different people as well.

During this course we don’t just learn Zumba , but we practise fitness and stretching too.

So it could be great for you to try this experience!

 

 

 

Tennis

Adrienne

 

As you might probably know, the college offers lots of different sport activities and all of them are completely FREE. So you don’t have any excuses to avoid practising sport. Indeed it is known that students are prone to gain weigh during their studies. In addition, playing sports is a good way to let off steam and forget about the studies. But practising a sport regularly is not just beneficial for your health it is also an excellent opportunity to meet new people and make friends who share the same passion as you: the tennis for example.

What if you have never practised that sport before? No problem, a special course for the beginners is organised every Wednesday from 1pm to 2pm. You don’t need any equipment; rackets and tennis ball are provided. Moreover, two teachers are always there in order to improve your skills and to help you gaining the technique.

You have played tennis for years? There is also a lesson organised for the “elite” from 2pm to 3pm. We are less numerous (2 students altogether). This means that there is 4 “empty seats” left because the college have 2 tennis courts.

So don’t hesitate anymore and join us at the tennis court on Wednesday, we will be pleased to welcome you there!

It is a mixed team so boys AND girls are allowed to come with us. For now, there are 2 boys and 2 girls, in both case you won’t be alone.

PS: Tournaments are organised during the winter season so as to challenge teams from other colleges. It is an excellent opportunity for the people who feel the thrill of competition!

 

 

Football

 

Jelmer Hamer

 

I always played football back in The Netherlands with a lot of friends, so when I came to Chichester I wanted to join the Chichester City Football Club with Maarten. At Westgate Halls of Residence I met Evert, another Dutch guy who already joined the club, and he told us that the club wasn’t really nice. Chichester College does have football on Tuesday and Thursday, so we decided to have a look at that and join those players! But it turned out to be just a bunch of players playing random tournaments every week, what is really fun to do, but not that good kind of football practice I hoped it would be.

 

The coach divides the group in a couple of smaller groups, most of the time groups of 7 persons. After everyone has a group the coach starts a tournament. Most of the times there are 4 groups who switch sides every 15 minutes.

If you’re interested in participating in a football training with the college enrichment, training is on Tuesday at 05.00 PM and on Thursday at 04.00 PM.

 

 

Rugby

 

Jelmer

 

The first thing that I realized when I came England was that rugby is a very popular sport here, that’s a total difference compared to The Netherlands, where you almost never hear something about rugby?

 

When I came to Chichester I met Thijs, another Dutch guy, and he was really into rugby.

The first month I was here the Rugby World Championship was broadcasted live on television, so I watched a lot of rugby matches at Westgate Halls of Residence with a couple of international students. I’ve never really played it before, only like three times on my high school with P.E..

Thijs asked me if I wanted to participate in a training of the College team to see if I would enjoy it, and I really did!

 

Firstly we played a small game, but that was kind of hard for me because I didn’t really know what to do! After the game the trainer explained a couple of exercises that we needed to do in groups of eight, things like tackling and dodge. The exercises were really fun to do and after that we played another game, what was a bit easier for me because I knew the rules this time.

If you’re interested in participating in a rugby training with the college team, training is on Tuesday at 3.30 PM.