COACHES BACK FROM ITF COURSE IN EL SALVADOR

Sep 25, 2008 Sports

– Stresses the importance of attendance, calls for more support

(from left) - Debbie Bunbury, Shelly Daly-Ramdyhan and Carol Humphrey.

By Rawle Welch
Recently three local tennis coaches returned from attending the 5th International Tennis Federation (ITF) Central American & Caribbean Regional Coaches Conference which was held from September 14-20 in El Salvador.

The three coaches Debbie Bunbury, Shelly Daly-Ramdyhan and Carol Humphrey returned on Sunday and shared their experience with Kaieteur Sport.

According to the coaches the Course covered a wide range of topics that focused mainly on how to develop the game within the region and how to improve the abilities of coaches so that they can return and impart the knowledge gained in their respective countries.

The event attracted some of the world’s leading coaches and sports scientists and they gave presentations on the most recent information that dealt with high level tennis training and performance and it also provided coaches from the region with an opportunity to meet and exchange ideas and reinforce the good cooperation between the countries.

Humphrey, who hails from Berbice and has been holding coaching sessions within the New Amsterdam community for sometime now, disclosed that it was her second turnout at such a Meeting, having attended one previously in Panama, and she has learnt a great deal from the Course.

“Sometimes the cost to go to these Meetings is very exorbitant, but when you arrive and begin to participate in the proceedings it is only then that you realise its importance and the sacrifice is not in vain,” she pointed out.

Humphrey said she was able to gain a lot of knowledge about many aspects of coaching that she never knew and saw her attendance as pertinent to the development of young players, especially in the Berbice community.

She called on the Guyana Lawn Tennis Association and all the other related Bodies to be more supportive and attentive to the need of coaches who are making huge sacrifices to keep the sport alive.

Bunbury, who is the most experienced of the trio, was even more direct in her remarks in relation to the development of the sport here.

“Some of the major aspects of tennis that really gripped my attention during the Course was how quickly the game evolves and how big a business it has become from an economic standpoint throughout the world,” Bunbury said.

“Tennis requires relatively very little investment in terms of facilities when compared with what it can offer in return if we can attract significant tournaments and advertising that those events can draw,” she stated.

“I’m not talking about constructing facilities such as Wimbledon or Roland Garros that attracts multi millions in advertising revenues, but good enough to at least host tournaments on a regional scale.”

She added that countries such as Trinidad and Tobago and Barbados have just basic facilities, but they are still able to host minor tournaments that assist in developing and expanding their tourism industry as well as create an awareness of their countries and provide many other positives for the hotel and business community.

Bunbury informed that the knowledge gained is of great importance to the development of the game here including tactics, strategising and other basic drills that are important components for coaching.

“The sport is constantly evolving and it was an educational experience for us to benefit from the expertise of some of the world’s leading coaches and presenters.”

Daly-Ramdyhan, who recently returned from Barbados as a certified Level One Coach echoed the same sentiments expressed by her fellow countrywomen about the benefits of the programme, adding that she is now equipped with new developmental materials for different levels of play called ‘Play and Stay’ which she hopes to introduce very soon.

Among the topics that were discussed included: (1) – Developing tactical and technical foundation; Developing interest and Effective Practice for Performance Players.

The Conference was attended by 85 Coaches from five Caribbean countries and eight Spanish speaking territories including the host.

Guyana came in for special mention in the report of Regional Development Officer Anthony Jeremiah, who advised that they continue the programme.

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