Coaches from Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea, and Fiji are attending the weeklong course
By TIMOTHY INIFIRI JNR
Star Sports, Honiara
The World Association of Basketball Coaches (WABC) Level 1 coaching course tipped off in Honiara on Tuesday, bringing together coaches from across the region.
Organised by the Solomon Islands Basketball Federation (SIBF), this marks only the second time the course has been held in the Oceania region, with the first conducted in Fiji in 2020.
Speaking during the opening ceremony at the Solomon Islands National Institute of Sport (SINIS), FIBA Level 1 Coaching Instructor Caleb Harrison emphasized that not all participating coaches are expected to graduate with certificates, noting the historically low pass rate.
However, he stressed that the course is designed to promote growth and learning.
“The purpose of this course is for us to all grow together. So we’re going to have a lot of discussions, we want to share each of our experiences and share ideas and hopefully everybody this week build new friendships, new relationships throughout the region,” he told participants.
Harrison highlighted that the course targets experienced coaches, requiring a minimum of five years of coaching experience, and reiterated that the challenging assessment standards are intentional.
“If you walk away here confident or not yet confident, the biggest thing is going away and applying it to your upcoming experience.
“And if you do walk away not yet confident, the idea would be to go away for another two or three years, practise your coaching skills, develop your coaching abilities, and then be able to come back and take the course again.
“So do not be discouraged if you walk away not yet confident. That just means there are areas to work on, and as a coach you can go away, practise, and gain real-life experience.”
Reflecting on the previous course held in 2020, Harrison noted that only four out of 18 participants successfully passed, reinforcing the course’s rigorous standards.
“The course is going to be interesting, I think. We are going to draw a lot of your coaching knowledge and your experiences from the teams that you coach.
“So we provide a really open learning environment and we encourage you all to share your own ideas,” he added.
A total of 10 participants from Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea, and Fiji are attending the weeklong course, including five local coaches from the Solomon Islands.
The coaching course concludes next Tuesday, 28 April.
