CCCAN Caribbean Coaches clinic deemed a success

THE 19 coaches that attended the first ever CCCAN Caribbean Coaches’ Clinic are all pleased with the clinic, which was conducted in Barbados from August 9-11.

The course conducted under the auspices of ASCA, USA Aquatics, the local Olympic Association and Swimming Federation scored high marks among the participants who reported that it was conducted at a high level and received information that would certainly help them to further elevate the standard of the sport in their own countries. The clinic attracted coaches from varying backgrounds as some came to refresh their knowledge, others to build on their level 1 accreditation and yet  others to become trained coaches. The coaches received a wealth of knowledge from Caribbean Olympians Leah Martindale Stancil and Anthony Nesty, Assistant Coaches at the University of Florida. Both Martindale and Nesty were equally enthusiastic facilitators as they thoroughly and painstakingly perused the level 2 data to ensure that the coaches understood at a level that they could perform successful implementations of the information at their club level and within their National Federations.

Sitting l-r are: First row:Mrs Sonia O’Neal(Secretary, CCCAN
Technical Swimming Committee) Mr Anthony Nesty-Swim Coach,
Mrs Leah Martindale Stancil-Swim Coach, Mr Errol Clarke, President CCCAN.

On the closing night both Martindale and Nesty were presented with CCCAN medallions as tokens of appreciation from the Confederation. The participants were encouraged to exchange ideas and develop a system of mentorship to the further benefit of raising the standard in the region. In delivering the vote of thanks CCCAN’s Secretary of the Technical Committee, Sonia O’Neal lauded the energy and was impressed with the enthusiasm with which the Facilitators had put into disseminating the information to the coaches. O’Neal felt satisfied at the quality and quantity of the presentation and was happy that they found the time to help and support the coaches from the region.

O’Neal noted that her desire was for more swimmers from the region to achieve the qualifying standards for the world championships thus reducing the dependency on Universities. She thanked the coaches for their attentiveness and desire to improve themselves in the quest for bettering the region.

She also praised the efforts of USA Aquatics and ASCA for supporting the Clinic as without their support the clinic would not have been possible. She also noted that she looked forward to when CCCAN could host a level 3 clinic to provide on-going opportunities and further advance the facilitation of imparting knowledge to the region’s coaches. (PR)