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Community Sports and Educational Development (CSED) Initiative in collaboration with Bayelsa State Netball Association with the financial support of the Bayelsa State Government has trained additional 26 new netball coaches.
The two-day training event, which was organized under aegis of the maiden edition of Governor Douye Diri Netball Seminar, was held at sports gym of the Federal University Otuoke, in Ogbia Local Government Area of Bayelsa State.
The seminar was put jointly together for secondary schools Physical Education (P.E) teachers in Ogbia Local Government Area of the state.
The 26 participants were taught the theoretical and practical aspects of netball, which from inception is the only organised sport that is designed for girls and women.
Notably, in the past few years, the game has increasingly attracted boys and male players in an attempt by World Netball to make the game inclusive for all gender.
The Government of Bayelsa State decided to sponsor this netball training event in order to build the capacity of P.E. teachers and ensure that the game of netball which is one of the the fastest growing grassroots sports in the state continue to offer the girl-child the opportunities to develop their sporting and academic abilities.
It would be recalled that last year, 21 female secondary school students in Bayelsa state completed the “Sporting Coders” programme, which involved playing netball and learning how to code.
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The Otuoke event was led by Edema Fuludu and Onome Edema who are Netball Africa certified coaches. They were assisted by coaches Catherine Sasuode, Ruth Opuene and Opusam Ekinisam Ete. The safeguarding of students in sports was also covered as part of the seminar.
Despite the inclement weather and rainfall on the second training day, the coaches and trainees were keen to learn the practical aspect of the game. As they were taught how to mark the netball court/playing area, warm up and warm down exercises, demonstration of the seven positions of the game and the responsibilities that are attached to each position.
To round up the practical training, a practice match involving the new netball coaches was held.At the end of the field practice, free netball starter packs (netball balls, rims/nets, finger-held whistles, and two sets of netball training bibs), as well as anti-drug abuse brochures were distributed to the new netball coaches.
Edema Fuludu urged the new coaches to go and teach the students in their respective schools what they have learnt and to make good use of the free netball starter packs. Edema Fuludu also told them that later in the year, an inspection team from the Bayelsa State Netball Association will visit all the beneficiary schools to monitor the progress of the coaches and netball playing students. Also, before the end of the current school year, competitions will be held to assess their performances.
The new coaches thanked the Bayelsa State Government, the Bayelsa State Netball Association and the Ministry of Education for giving them the opportunity to attend a training of this magnitude without charging the attendees any money. Some of the new coaches described the game of netball as a sport that test the agility of netballers and it is interesting to play and to watch.
The Coordinator of Bayelsa Netball Association, Catherine Sasuode commended the Governor of Bayelsa State, Senator Douye Diri for the financial support to the Association that facilitated the organising of the seminar. Catherine Sasuode also prayed that more financial support and opportunities should be provided to build the capacity of P.E.e teachers and coaches at the grassroots level. She stated that the Association look forward to receiving more support from the Bayelsa State Government in the near future, with a view of supporting the growth and development of the game of netball in Bayelsa State.