Handball: Olympic Solidarity level one coaching course |17 May 2023

Family photo of the delegates and officials (Photo: Neil Sirame)

Coaches accumulate knowledge through level one course

With the aim of increasing the quality of local coaches in all areas and contribute to improve the level of handball played in the country, the sport’s local governing body in partnership with the Seychelles Olympic and Commonwealth Games Association is presently hosting a level one coaching course.

Gathering 18 coaches, the training, officially launched on Monday at the Olympic House at Roche Caïman, is fully funded by the Olympic Solidarity and is being run by International Handball Federation (IHF) expert, Serbian Mi lan Petronijevic.

It was chairman of the Seychelles Handball Association (SHA) Norbert Dogley who officially launched the training in the presence principal secretary for youth and sports Ralph Jean-Louis, and president of the Seychelles Olympic and Commonwealth Games Association (Socga) Antonio Gopal.

Addressing those present, on behalf of the SHA, Mr Dogley thanked Socga for the opportunity, while also sharing gratitude towards the National Sports Council (NSC), along with the youth and sports department for their contributions.

He said the training is a chance for the delegates to gain more knowledge and techniques for future development of local players, especially the younger ones.

Mr Dogley thanked the various working organisations for releasing the delegates to attend the training, which he said will benefit the national selections for the forthcoming Indian Ocean Islands Games (IOIG) which will take place in Madagascar from August 23 to September 3.

On his part, PS Jean-Louis said the main the objective of the course is to empower those involved to raise the level of the sport, especially across all the schools.

He said the delegates are excited to gain more knowledge and experience to better serve the players and also the youths.

“I hope the participants make the most out of this opportunity and also maintain the link with the IHF representative,” added PS Jean-Louis.

Socga president Gopal said progression in handball has been delayed over the years, adding that the Olympic Solidarity is there to bring its support. Since handball will be in the IOIG, the coaches will receive extra knowledge during the training, added Mr Gopal.

Speaking to Sports NATION, Mr Petronijevic said the SHA is in continuous collaboration with the IHF and the training demonstrates the willingness to improve the level of handball around the globe.

He said the training will provide the coaches with an insight on the methodology and the different technicalities of the sport.

Mr Petronijevic explained that the course is 60 percent theory and 40 percent practical, physical activities, while there will be session about tactics which will be assessed. 

He added that the training will also serve as a platform for the development of the national team in their preparations for the IOIG.

“This is the first step in the development of handball in Seychelles and I will be looking forward for the next programme with the local partners,” said the IHF expert who added that they are aiming to introduce a programme for the younger kids aged seven to instil handball into them.

Mini-handball, the name of the programme, will engage the young ones in handball at an early age, and Mr Petronijevic said such a programme will motivate the youths into joining handball, which will be easier to do than in other sports.

“Kids passing the ball around, running, jumping, scoring greatly against each other is the best feeling for them,” noted Mr Petronijevic, who added that it is easier to have control with hand mechanism, while the sport can be grasped easily at an early stage.

The IHF expert hopes to contribute greatly in the development of handball among the youths with the mini-handball programme as they are doing in his country, Serbia.

Neil Sirame