NSC fuels basketball coaching clinic

Several up-and-coming basketball coaches will, over two days, be equipped with a better understanding of the sport through a National Sports Commission-fuelled coaching clinic.
Hosted at the National Racquet Center on Woolford Avenue in Georgetown, the clinic is set to enlighten coaches, especially Physical Education teachers, on the rules of the game, coaching philosophy, techniques such as jump shots and lay-ups, defensive stance and footwork, team offense and defense, in-game strategy, planning a training session and drills.
The clinic will also incorporate practical sessions, which are set to be held at the Burnham Court on Carmichael Street, Georgetown.
A simple opening ceremony was hosted at the Racquet Center on Wednesday morning, when the Vice-President of the Guyana Basketball Federation (GBF), the renowned Rawle Toney, underscored the importance of such initiatives.
“This initiative is very important to the Guyana Basketball Federation because, if you’ve been keeping abreast, we’ve been very active at all levels, using both genders, male and female; and coaching has been a very big part of it,” Toney shared.

A sports journalist, Toney also explained, “Basketball has two formats. I think it’s important to note there’s 3×3 and 5×5. One of it involves coaching, the other one doesn’t involve coaching; well, direct coaching in a game, and as such, I think today’s activity will be very beneficial to you.”
Meanwhile, Assistant Director of Sport (DoS) Melissa Dow-Richardson spoke of the Government’s efforts to increase sport-funding in an effort to develop talent and increase capacity through such training opportunities.
Dow-Richardson told the gathering, “That National Sports Academy is based on three pillars: the Nursery, which was implemented in 2021; the second pillar we are currently a part of, which is tournaments; and the third pillar, which will be the elite. So, this coaching programme is very well poised for the development of one of our core sports, which is basketball.
“Over the first year, the basketball programme has reached out into the community, and players have been exposed to the fundamentals of the game. But now, what we need to do is increase the capacity of those persons who coach those young persons in the community,” the Assistant DoS added.
The basketball clinic was set to span two days and is set to concluded today, with practical sessions at the outdoor court on Carmichael Street.