More than 200 young aspirant athletes turned up for the opening day of the annual Air Namibia Athletics Coaching and Training Clinic run by sports consultant Quinton Steele Botes at Windhoekâ??s Independence Stadium on Wednesday, January 9.
The clinic, which takes place for the 15th consecutive year has grown from strength to strength over the years and besides a regular increase in participants, it has also seen an increase in sponsors coming on board.
The main sponsor is Air Namibia, who once again flew some of South Africaâ??s top athletics coaches in for the clinic. The secondary sponsors are Avis Rent a Car, Engen, Wimpy, Starlite, Coca Cola and Tyres 2000.
According to Botes, the clinic will give athletes a chance to learn some of the latest training techniques, while also helping them with skills development.
He added that the coaching of primary and secondary school children would be done separately this year so that the youngsters could receive intensive training.
â??The primary school children are still too young to specialise in certain athletics disciplines. We want to develop the total body of the youngsters so they will participate in at least three different events, like sprinting, throwing or jumps, while the emphasis will also be on having some fun,â? he said.
The secondary school athletes will specialise in different athletics events ranging from sprinting, middle distance running, throwing, jumping and hurdles events.
Some of South Africa and Namibiaâ??s top athletics coaches as well as sport biomechanist kineticist Dr Klaus Bartonietz from Germany will conduct the courses.
The South African coaches include Steve Rautenbach (hurdles), Charlie Strohmenger (long jump), Christo Stander (shotput and discus) and Hugo Badenhorst (high jump). Badenhorst will be assisted by South African high jumper Rene van der Merwe, who was the African high jump champion in 2006.
The Namibian coaches include Lucky Gawanab, Letu Hamhola, Leonie van Rensburg, Hawie Engels Erwin Naimwaka, Lizaan van Rensburg, Aletta Hess, Desiree Nel and Jerry Nel.
For the first time, a course in pole vaulting will also be presented after assistance from Marc Casseyre of the United States embassy. Casseyre, a former pole vaulter in the United States, will take aspirant jumpers through their steps at the course.
More children from local orphanages like the SOS Childrenâ??s Home, the Maerua Orphanage and the Namibian Childrenâ??s Orphanage will join the course later to bring the total number of participants to about 250.
Botes, however said that the number of participants was not too significant.
â??The success of the course will depend on the quality and content of the course and the skills transferred. We can accommodate up to about 300 participants, but if it becomes bigger than that, the course will not be intensive enough any more,â? he said.
The course will continue through till Saturday, starting at 08h00 in the morning, through to 17h00 in the afternoons. In between there will be tea and lunch breaks, while video presentations and motivational talks on sport psychology will also be presented.
The course will be completed with a performance diagnosis by the coaches on Saturday morning, where the athletes will be expected to participate in a competitive environment.