Coaches from the Caribbean islands of the Bahamas, St. Vincent & the Grenadines and the Caymans Islands as well as host country Jamaica will begin an intense three-day coaching course this morning (Friday, March 7) in an initiative to upskill and increase the number of certified coaches in the region.
The course, being conducted under the banner of the World Squash Federation (WSF), will cover theory and practical sessions at the Liguanea Club, New Kingston - the home of the Jamaica Squash Association. The course is sponsored by the Federation of Pan-American Squash. The attendees will also contribute to the cost of staging the course.
Experienced Head Squash Pro Colin White will be the facilitator for the course. White has a WSF and European Squash Federation (ESF) Level 1, 2 and 3 certified coach and tutor for many years. He has taught and coached the game of squash in many countries including the US, Austria, Hungary and Russia.
President of the Jamaica Squash Association Karen Anderson welcomed the course stating that there was demand among regional coaches and individuals who expressed an interest in coaching. “There was quite a bit of demand for it. Persons had been doing some informal coaching and wanted to standardize and regularize their coaching practices and really get the proper information as to how to coach, what to coach, what to look for and how to coach properly and proper techniques," she said. "And so there was this clamoring for how we could get this coaching course done and so the Federation of Pan American Squash is sponsoring this event and so Mr. Colin White is the facilitator and he works on behalf of World Squash Federation.
“We have 12 people registered right now. Three from the Caribbean - one from the Bahamas, one from St. Vincent and the Grenadines and one from Cayman, so that’s a really great number. We have one junior in the mix as well. So we're really looking for a great course over the next three days. It’s both practical and theory and we anticipate that it will come off very well and that we’ll have a great session going forth for this World Squash Federation level 1 Coaching Course sponsored by the Federation of Pan American Squash or FPS.”