MCYS, NSC conclude 12-hr developmental table tennis coaching course in Bartica

… programme heading to Essequibo

The Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport (MCYS) and the National Sports Commission (NSC) conducted a 12-hour Development Table Tennis Coaching Course for Primary/Secondary School Teachers in which 10 teachers participated.
The venue was the Bartica Community Centre. The training commenced on Wednesday, October 13, and concluded on Friday, October 15.
The aims and objectives of the programme are:
* To enable each teacher to become self-supportive by developing an infrastructure of administration, coaching and officiating with clear developmental plans in place, which will ensure sustainability of initiatives
* To create an integrated coaching structure that incorporates teacher education and player development at school level
* To create an umpiring structure that incorporates umpire education, participation and development at the school level
* To motivate and encourage schools and players to join forces and work in partnership.
The programme facilitator was Linden Johnson of the NSC and the organisers from Bartica were Timothy Cornelius, Teacher/President of Bartica Table Tennis Sub Association, and Mark Ambrose of the Education Department of Bartica.
The participating teachers were Michael Augustus of Itaballi Primary School, Kameshwari Dhanrajh of St Anthony’s Primary School, Narresha Williams of Agatash Primary School, Fanela Gounga Thomas of Holy Name Primary School, Amanda Grant of St John-the-Baptist Primary, Colleen Corrington of 2 Miles Primary, Naomi Tobin of Potaro Primary, Ronella Joseph and Orin Blair of Bartica Secondary, and Dax Holder of 3 Miles Secondary.
The programme was a bit of a challenge as most of the teachers were first timers, but they gradually developed an understanding of the sport and hoped that the knowledge could be transferred to the students, since it is the main objective of the programme to have the students benefit through the reintroduction of table tennis into schools.
The programme provided the teachers with the ability to be self-supportive and develop a coaching and administering perspective. To add to the promotion of the sport, each participant received table tennis rackets and 20 table tennis balls which can be used in the schools.
Next, the MCYS and the NSC will be conducting a 12-hour Development Table Tennis Coaching Course for Primary School Teachers and 18 teachers are catered for, at a venue to be named in Essequibo. It is scheduled to run from Wednesday, October 27 to Friday, October 29.