In a bid to make a good utilisation of the lockdown in the country due to coronavirus pandemic, Hockey India and Sports Authority of India (SAI) have decided to conduct a 21-day Coaches Development Sessions (CDS).
The sessions, which are part of SAI’s MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) workshop for coaches, will aim at providing high level knowledge to the hockey coaches around the country via video conferencing during this lockdown period.
The CDS will be divided into two coaching sessions --Level 'Basic' Coaching Sessions and Level 'Intermediate' Coaching Sessions. The sessions will be conducted by Hockey India's Foreign National Team Coaches, Scientific Advisors and Director, High Performance.
Reflecting on the initiative, Hockey India president Mohd Mushtaque Ahmad said that the decision has been taken to make use of this lockdown period in good effect.
“With the world having come to a stand-still due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Hockey India along with SAI, is delighted to be making use of this lockdown period to good effect by conducting these sessions for Hockey Coaches around the country in order for them to gain high-level knowledge from our Foreign Coaches, Scientific Advisors and Director, High Performance. These Coaching Sessions shall be conducted over video conferencing and reiterates Hockey India's policy of ensuring that the functionality of our National Federation is unhindered,” the official statement quoted Ahmad as saying.
SAI’s Director General Sandip Pradhan,on the other hand, said,"This is the first time that an online workshop for coaches of this magnitude is taking place. In a conscious effort to use this lean period to upgrade the knowledge of coaches, Sports Authority of India has collaborated with 16 NSFs, including Hockey India, to devise online coaching opportunities for our coaches from around the country. On Day 1 of the online workshop 4700 coaches participated and the numbers are growing every day. I am really happy that Hockey India devised the online curriculum within such a short time. Through these regular online classes conducted by Hockey India's Foreign Coaches, Scientific Advisors and Director, High Performance, I believe our Coaches will get essential insights and a fresh perspective of ways to train their athletes better."
The Level 'Basic' Coaching Sessions will be conducted by Indian junior women’s hockey team coach Erik Wonink. The candidates for these sessions will include non SAI-accredited Coaches who have successfully qualified the Hockey India Level '1' Certification (or above).
Meanwhile, the Level 'Intermediate' Coaching Sessions will be conducted by Graham Reid (Chief Coach, Indian Men's Hockey Team), Sjoerd Marijne (Chief Coach, Indian Women's Hockey Team), Chris Ciriello (Analytical Coach, Indian Men's Hockey Team), Janneke Schopman (Analytical Coach, Indian Women's Hockey Team), Robin Arkell (Scientific Advisor, Indian Men's Hockey Team) and Wayne Lombard (Scientific Advisor, Indian Women's Hockey Team). The candidates for these sessions will include SAI-accredited coaches who have successfully passed the Hockey India Level '1' Certification (or above).
