by Ian Marshall, ITTF Publications Editor
Throughout, the Course Conductor was Christian Lillieroos; a six day ITTF Level Two Coaches Course which started on Tuesday 6th December closed the curtain.
Impressively, it was the fifth ITTF Certification Course in Jamaica this year, home for proceedings was the G. C. Foster University, an education establishment with a focus on educating coaches and physical education teachers. Also, they possess a table tennis team, the premises being the home for the 2015 Jamaica National Championships.
Predominantly course members were from Jamaica but there were students from Guyana and pertinently one course member was present for a second time; the reason being that few students progress directly to Level Three and thus need to refresh the mind.
“Technique is what many coaches believe is the most important part of being a coach, in Level Two the coaches had to learn about technique all the way up to World class level. In Level Three and high performance the focus is mostly on strategy, mental training and physical training”, Christian Lillieroos
However, only Level One Course Conductor took part and most certainly it was a highly motivated student. Konata Beluchi was attending his fourth course of the year.
Impressively 50 per cent of the coaches gained sufficiently high grades in the theory and practical elements in order to progress to Level Three. Comparatively small classes which enabled a high degree of personal attention contributed to the high success rates; nevertheless, it was a quite outstanding result.
“Theory is normally the most challenging part of the Level Two course but this group of coaches did very well in the theory”, Christian Lillieroos
A high level of success and none did better than the host nation’s Dale Parham. He recorded the quite unusual achievement of gaining the perfect score of 20 marks.
Likewise from beyond Jamaican shores there was one most impressive student. Dwayne Dick, who travelled from Guyana, was among the coaches who got good enough grades to continue to Level Three.
Stephen Grant an ITTF Level 3 coach was the organizer of the course.
