ISC 2012 Basketball Coach Training: Post Three

ISC 2012 Basketball Coach Training Day Four Action On the Court

The International Sport Connection is based on the belief that coaches can play a particularly influential role in the lives of children, especially for children in challenging circumstances, who are in greater need of consistent contact with a caring adult mentor; to be a complete coach, a coach must possess the knowledge and motivation to effectively teach, train, manage, and mentor children and youth.

 The training that took place at Lira Integrated School and Sports Center included on the court training lead by Paul Nixon, Nettie Respondex, Marshall Jamieson, and former WNBA player Maeola Bolten.  Ugandan basketball coaches, Timothy, Sam, and Carol who participated in the coaching exchange visit to the U.S. in January also helped with training their peers.  The on the court training lead coaches through ways to teach fundamental basketball skills and provided drills and games for coaches to use in their practices with youth players.  The ISC Instructors introduced fundamental shooting form, passing, ball handling, defensive principles, and the importance of teamwork and team cohesion.

 

After 2 hours of coach-to-coach interactions in the morning and in the afternoon, two groups of over 200 children (418 total children participated) joined the coaches so they could get practical experience with youth players.  This arrangement allowed coaches to immediately implement the knowledge they had gained from the course.  Over 400 children (208 boys and 211 girls) received quality technical instruction in basketball skills and the children were in contact with a caring mentor.  There was contagious energy coming from the courts that transformed the community, as there were crowds of spectators watching the training from the sidelines.

 The 2012 International Sport Connection Basketball Training in Uganda was supported by generous contributions from the SportsUnited division of the U.S. Department of State.