MIES (Switzerland) - The World Association of Basketball Coaches (WABC) is continuing to deliver against its remit of enhancing the game's quality globally by improving the skills of those who teach it, with its latest Instructors course proving a big success for those taking part. A total of 12 participants from around the world congregated in Dubai in late January, as part of the WABC's aim to increase the number and pool of Instructors able to carry out Level 1 Coach Instructor Courses and Level 2 Coach Instructor Courses.
Guided by WABC President Patrick Hunt and WABC instructors Nour Amri, Milan Opacic and Nelson Isley, the six days of learning have turned out to be an invaluable experience for those who participated.
"This Course has provided an excellent opportunity for invited candidates from each of FIBA's regions to enhance their expertise to facilitate and deliver FIBA WABC Coach Instructors Courses and the FIBA WABC Basketball Knowledge Module for the FIBA Referees Instructors Program (FRIP)," stated WABC Course leader, Patrick Hunt.
"The candidates certainly made the most of this much-valued and appreciated opportunity," he added.
Those taking part all gave glowing feedback, including Xu Xiaofei from China, who was quick not only to praise the course but, most importantly, to outline how it would help moving forward.
She explained: "The training program was well-organized, offering an immersive learning experience with group discussions, idea sharing, role-playing, and more. It really helped us translate theoretical knowledge into practical application.
"Now that I’m back in China, we will be piloting some reforms in the Elite Basketball Coach Clinic organized by the National Sports Administration's Coaching Academy. We aim to move away from spoon-feeding at the traditional lecture-based model to help coaches better grasp the content and apply what they’ve learnt.
"I have definitely taken away with me tips learnt during the course to facilitate this," stressed Xu. Meanwhile, Marty Clarke from Australia echoed those sentiments, adding: "The course clearly articulated the difference between instructing coaches, which is more content mastery-based, and instructing instructors, which is more 'how to, and why' based."
He continued: "The course has enhanced my understanding of techniques around pulling information from participants as opposed to pushing information towards them. Now, thanks to this course, at our High Performance Centre, we have coach discussions that have become more 'peer to peer' discussions rather than 'mentor to student’ style lectures."
The WABC also continues to drive opportunities for coaches to share ideas and gives a real impetus for personal growth - a fact not lost on Sidney Parsons, who shares her time between Germany and the USA.
She explained: "This is my third experience with the WABC, and this course held earlier this year has provided me with the opportunity to learn and grow professionally, but also to connect with amazing lecturers from all around the world. These connections last beyond the week we share together at the course and is something I highly value.
"Personally, I have been able to directly apply the learnings I took away from the WABC into my coaching and teaching. One of my favorite lessons was the Stages of Group Development. This was something I could directly translate into my team in Germany at the time and has been something I've incorporated each season since," she concluded.
For more on The World Association of Basketball Coaches (WABC), click here.
FIBA