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The days when kids backed out of PE lessons, either forgetting their kit or standing on the peripheries of the action, as soon as they felt they couldn’t do a certain sport as well as their classmates, are over.

According to BBC News Saturday Morning Sports presenter, Mike Bushell, with games like Crazy Ball on offer, hanging about on the wing because you feel a bit lazy or aren’t part of the ‘in-crowd’ is no longer an option. “These days the emphasis is on giving everyone that back of the net feeling,” he said on his visit to John Hampden Grammar School in Buckinghamshire, earlier this month.

Mike took part in a game of Crazy Ball, practiced his own catching and throwing skills on a Crazy Catch and spoke to students about how the game has helped them get involved in sport. He saw first hand how Crazy Catch’s insane/sane technology enables teachers to pitch sessions at a range of ability levels. All players in both teams can score points by catching their own team’s or the opposition’s rebounds from any of the four Crazy Catches acting as ‘goals’ during the game, so no one sits out.

“It’s about getting everybody involved all the time,” says Richard Beghin,  from Flicx UK, sole distributers of Crazy Catch in the UK, “and you can’t just sit down and watch. I remember being down at third man, playing cricket, and being bored out of my mind, but with Crazy Ball you have to be involved.”

Crazy Ball is one of seven new sports on the timetable at John Hampden, as Sport England’s Sport Unlimited project has reached leafy Bucks, in order to engage with students who haven’t yet found the right sport for them. Crazy Catch is also part of the YST alternative sports programme to get kids active in non traditional sports.
 
“Students only need basic skill levels to take part,” says the school’s Director of Sport Dan Edwards, “if you make it competitive they can  win game, score lots of points and it’s something youngsters who feel threatened by sports like rugby, can cope with.”
“Crazy Ball is an exciting new game that differs from traditional ball sports,” adds the Youth Sport Trust’s Head of Corporate Relations Sue Barratt who agrees that the game has been popular with pupils who are turned off by mainstream sport. “Fast paced and fun to play, the game develops the player’s perception, agility and concentration skills whilst building confidence through the enjoyment of sport. It’s a useful resource for schools as it is suitable for all ages.”

All around the country schools are using Crazy Catches in PE lessons, during after school, breakfast and lunchtime clubs


And it’s not just schools that use Crazy Catch. Sir Clive Woodward’s England rugby team in 2003, the South African world champions in 2007 and some of the top international and domestic cricket teams use it to improve fitness and catching skills. Members of the British Olympic team use Crazy Catch to improve hand eye coordination and even the Red Bull Formula 1 team have incorporated it into their pit crew’s training schedule in the hope that their improved reactions will speed up pit stops.

Ahead of May’s Turkish Grand Prix Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel stand one and two in the Driver’s Championship and Red Bull Racing twenty points ahead of their nearest rivals, Ferrari.

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