The Americas Federation of Netball Associations (AFNA), is embarking on a coaching initiative this month that will see participants particularly those from the Caribbean region being awarded the Level One Coaching certificates.
Chair of the AFNA Coaching Committee and member of the International Netball Federation (INF) Coaching Advisory Panel Bridget Adams said the level of response so far has been tremendous.
“This will be the first year and is expected to continue annually until all persons interested in coaching in the region are certified.
“The level of response is overwhelming. We are almost at capacity in three days of advertising. The advertisement was uploaded onto AFNA’s Facebook page and persons from outside of the region are interested, but we have only catered for our region,” Adams told Barbados TODAY.
The Level One Coaching certificates will be facilitated by Adams, Jill McIntosh who is chair of INF Coaching Advisory Panel and Oberon Pitterson-Nattie, member of AFNA Coaching Committee.
The dates for this year’s Level 1 Coaching Award are February 15th, 17th, 19th, 21st, 24th, 27th and 2nd March 2021. The sessions will take place two hours per day.
She explained that the 54-member countries of AFNA have welcomed the online initiatives and forums considering the pandemic and that everything is mostly based online.
“Last year we started with governance and umpiring virtually. This year will be the coaching award, all online for the very first time. So as time goes, we will assess participation going forward,” she added.
Adams noted that the only challenge they have encountered was developing the course whereby the practicals were usually done in person, now the participants will have to video record the practical aspect and submit to be assessed. Specific guidelines for this will be issued in the coming days.
Adams said that over the past five years there has been a growing interest in coaching within AFNA. During the past five years, Dominica, Antigua and Barbuda and St. Lucia all held coaching courses. St. Maarten had done a workshop. So, according to Adams, AFNA recognizes the need to play its part to have qualified coaches in the region.
She revealed that in April AFNA will be rolling out its Level Two Award for coaches who were previously certified at the Level One stage for the last three years or more. There will be at least two more Levels One and Two Awards during this year.
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