Monday, November 21, saw the successful conclusion of the 4-day ITTF Level 1 Coaching Course that took place at the BES Auditorium, starting the previous Friday, November 18, at 9:00 a.m.
After 4 full days of intensive training in both practical and theoretical materials, all 16 coaches who started, made it to the end.
Rafael Armendarez from Ecuador was the training instructor and was well accepted by all the participants. Starting at 9:00 a.m. on all 4 days, the course went very well, with coffee breaks and lunch provided to everyone, courtesy the Belize Olympic Committee, who was a financial part sponsor of this training session. Jamboree, next door, were the facilitators of the meals.
With some 50% of the participants being primary school teachers, the objective of training the appropriate persons to further train the “future kids” of table tennis, is now on its way to become a reality. 6 primary schools participated and some will be recipients of tables and equipment from the BTTA. This will be an “ongoing” project with a long-term objective of getting as many primary schools involved in table tennis as possible.
Our sincere thanks to all the participants and to instructor Armendarez for all their time and effort in making this event a success.
Thanks also to the sponsors, the ITTF Development Program, Belize Olympic Committee and everyone else who made this event possible. We now look forward to the coaches completing their required 30 hours of coaching to complete the certification.