24 Mar 2019

Eleven out of 24 athletics’ coaches have qualified to proceed to level II after successfully doing well in the IAAF level I coaching course.

The two-week in Gaborone was conducted by Zimbabwean Tendai Tagala and his Botswana counterpart, Chilume Ntshwarang.

Speaking at the closing ceremony, Botswana National Olympic Committee CEO, Tuelo Serufo told the graduates that since they had acquired skills, what was pertinent was to go back to their respective clubs and schools to impart the knowledge.

He said he was cognizant that as coaches they would want to continuously develop themselves, adding that alone would help the country to do better in athletics.

“From here you are not the same person you were when you started participating in this course a couple of days ago. You have learned more than you knew before you came to this course,” he said.

Serufho said the graduates should know that their coaching methods and approach would be different now that they had acquired new skills and competencies.

He said the coaching path was not easy, but he implored them to continue unearthing new talent that would ultimately represent Botswana at international competitions.

“The more athletes you produce, the better our performance as a country will be.

This also means more opportunities for you as coaches to go abroad with different national teams or athletes,” he said.

Tagala said the IAAF had changed to e-learning, noting that coaching was now science-based and for the coaches to be awarded with the certificate was a big achievement.

“Please go and coach, doping is a serious offence in athletics and coaches you are the first target as soon as the athlete is positive. According to the new rules, it means the whole environment is positive that is the coach, federation and the country will be positive,” he said. ENDS