Annual seminar held to empower local coaches
The 6th annual Powerade Performance
Academy kicked off in Durban last week. It saw coaches from around
KwaZulu-Natal listen to expert performance coaches as part of an interactive
session of empowering and enriching lessons for school coaches. Powerade has
aimed much of its focus on high school coaches in recognition of their role as
primary influencers of the next generation of South Africa’s sporting heroes.
Dick Muir, Simphiwe Dludlu, John McGrath and Sizwe
Ndlovu took the coaches through critical aspects of coaching, on and off the
field of play, at the KZN Academy.
Dick Muir, Former Springbok rugby player, ex
Springbok and Sharks coach and Managing director of the Investec International
Rugby Academy SA, spoke about why he is part of the Powerade Academy, “The
biggest thing for me sharing knowledge with the coaches. Making them believe there
is no such thing as a bad coach, just an ill-informed coach.” he said. “It’s
important to invest in coaches because, through them, we are investing in our
youth. Developing the knowledge of coaches is important in preparing kids at a
young age.” Muir concluded.
Simphiwe Dludlu, SA U-17 Women’s Coach reflected on
the teams 2019 U-17 Women’s World Cup experience. She inspired the coaches to
build character in their teams. “I find it amazing that we expect players to
perform in a certain way when we do not really know their characters and what
they are mentally capable of. Everyone is born with a certain character; we
need to understand the building blocks of character and how to influence a
person’s character for the better.” she said.
Sizwe Ndlovu, 2012 Olympic Gold Medalist, spoke
about what he called the new low. “It is important for people and
coaches more especially to understand that when they reach a milestone, instead
of saying that this is the highest they can reach, but rather should look at the milestone and say this
is my “new low” and I need to do better than this.”
Ndlovu continued narrating his journey to the
coaches about his journey as an athlete and facing setbacks but never giving
up. He further explained how the concept
of a new low helped him to surpass his goals.
John McGrath, a former strongman who is now a high
performance business coach. McGrath tackled the mental side of preparing sports
men and women,. “I was there to talk about “In shifting paradigms it is about abandoning preconceived ideas that
people have about their abilities and about what is conceived as a boundary,”
he said.
McGrath illustrated practical examples of breaking
boundaries by bending nails, breaking chains, tearing packs of cards and
straightening a horseshoe. “These are all metaphors for what you can do and
what is possible. I don’t expect all of the coaches to start bending nails but
the coaches at the Powerade Performance Academy are there to learn how to make
breakthroughs.”
“At Powerade Performance Academy you have coaches
that have performed at a world class level and they are talking to coaches from
all over South Africa and that is a price worth paying.” he said.
Coaching continues to be an ever-transforming
discipline that incorporates innovative techniques and principles to improve
performance. The Academy allowed the coaches from the various schools and
sporting codes to go back to their respective schools in the spirit of “teach
one, teach all’.
To connect the coaches across the country, Powerade
has also introduced a Powerade Facebook Community called the Coaches Corner
where coaches can interact and share their daily challenges and achievements
with their peers. The next legs of Powerade Performance Academies will take
place in Port Elizabeth, Cape Town and Johannesburg.
For more information, visit Powerade Facebook page
(@PoweradeZA) and #AlwaysForward.
ENDS
