Two badminton coaches have flown to Uganda to undergo a seven-day Badminton World Federation (BWF) Level 2 International Coaching Course. Nyakallo Seboka and Lerato Lepheane are the two most qualified coaches in the country with both holding Level 1 certificates. If they pass, Lesotho will have two qualified high performance coaches.
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Speaking to thepost on Monday, Seboka said it is important for badminton in the country to have qualified coaches from the development stage to the senior level.
The Level 2 International Coaching Course is not a participatory course; coaches have to be assessed and need to pass.
The qualification they will receive is required for a coach to be allowed to be on the technical area in international badminton competitions.
“(The Level 2 course) is about how you can coach a player using performance factors, how to get them mentally and physically fit,” Seboka said.
“The Level 1 is about development but this one (Level 2) is high performance. I want this certificate. If I get it, it means I have done well because I am going to be assessed, and it would mean I am experienced,” she added.
“For now, it’s just the two of us (who are qualified) but we are hoping to have more qualified coaches in the country.”
In line with that aspiration, the Lesotho Badminton Association (LESBAD) is planning to host a Level 1 International Coaching Course later this year, and because Lesotho will be hosting it, it means there is an opportunity to have five or more local coaches undergo the training.
Various countries in the region will also send their coaches.
The association’s spokesperson, Moorosi Tsiane, said in the meantime the association is hosting mini-clinics to train coaches.
The intention is that when the time comes for the Level 1 Course, the participating coaches would have a better grasp of what coaching is, and the hope is that those who will be selected will pass the course and get certificates.
“I think towards the end of this year, around September, we plan to host a Level 1 Coaching Course. (The) Badminton Confederation African (BCA) itself has given us a mandate to host such a course,” Tsiane said.
“We were supposed to have hosted it in May but it was such a short notice and we asked for an extension to prepare for it. By the end of this year we will have few coaches that have Level 1 (coaching certificates),” he said.
“What we are doing right now is to have mini-clinics to train coaches that are going to the course because they have to pass. We are trying to help them and we will pick from their performances in the clinics and assess them through competitions we are going to have. Level 1 is regional, it won’t just be them (at the course), even other countries will send their own (coaches),” Tsiane said.
Tlalane Phahla
