SON reaches 500-coach training milestone
Special Olympics Namibia (SON) has taken the number of trained coaches across the country to more than 500 after putting over 60 participants through a four-day coaching programme in Windhoek last week.
The coaches, drawn from different sports and regions, underwent theoretical and practical training from Tuesday until Friday at the Namibia Football Association’s Soccer House in Katutura.
SON director Levien Smit said in a statement that the programme aimed to equip coaches with the knowledge and practical skills needed to work effectively with athletes with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD).
“This training takes our total number of trained coaches to just over 500 coaches across the country,” SON wrote on its social media account.
“We want to ensure that all people with [IDD] have opportunities to participate in year-round sports training and experience the joy of competition and belonging.
“Empowering coaches means that more volunteers, families and athletes can be reached.”
Theory meets practice
Smit said the programme combined classroom learning with practical coaching to ensure participants could apply what they had learnt in sporting environments.
The coaches were taken through coaching principles, athlete preparation, competition procedures, safety considerations and ways to create supportive environments for athletes with intellectual disabilities.
Special Olympics International places coach education at the centre of its athlete-development model, with its pathway incorporating sport-specific training, working with people with intellectual disabilities and continued coach development.
A profile on SON by Fly Namibia earlier this year reported that the organisation intends to train up to 200 coaches annually to strengthen its programmes and extend their reach around the country.
The latest training also followed the Special Olympics Unified Coach Training Programme rolled out last year, which targeted more than 100 Namibian coaches and teachers in basketball and volleyball.
That programme included training in Omaruru, Keetmanshoop and Windhoek before culminating in a practical Unified Sports competition involving athletes with and without intellectual disabilities.
Coaches put lessons to use
The four-day programme coincided with SON’s athletics competition at Independence Stadium in Windhoek on Friday, allowing coaches to put their training into practice while supporting athletes in competition.
The event featured women’s and men’s 100-metre races across their respective divisions.
Its programme also included the Law Enforcement Torch Run, an athlete parade, the raising of the Special Olympics flag and the taking of the Special Olympics oath before competition got underway.
The athletics finals were followed by an awards ceremony recognising the participating athletes.
Smit said linking coach development with practical sporting activity was important to ensure that the training did not end in the classroom, but translated into meaningful opportunities for athletes.
The spirit of the competition was captured in the Special Olympics athlete oath recited during the programme: “Let me win. But if I cannot win, let me be brave in the attempt.”
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