The Ezdan Hotel hosted the launch of the Asian athletics coaching workshop for the youth and junior categories, organised by the Asian Athletics Association for coaches on the sidelines of the first edition of the Asian Youth Championships, with 140 coaches from across the continent taking part in a workshop that is the first of its kind on the continent under the leadership of Major General Dahlan Al Hamad as president of the Asian Athletics Association, and the opening was attended by HE the president of the Asian Athletics Association, Major General Dahlan Al Hamad. The course, held under the supervision of the IAAF in cooperation with the Regional Development Centre, features a group of international lecturers led by Dr Abdulmalek Al Habil, development director at the IAAF, and Dr Hamdi Abdulrahim, director of the Regional Development Centre for Athletics
Modern coaching methods
The course’s opening lecture covered the latest coaching methods for attracting young and junior athletes, raising the technical level of talented individuals, and honing their abilities, as well as drawing the interest of young people and juniors to the mother of sports, on the Asian continent.
HE Major General Al Hamad began the opening proceedings by welcoming the lecturers and trainees from Asian countries, extending his thanks and appreciation to Dr Al Habil, praising his dedication, knowledge and vast experience, which have contributed to training more than 3,000 coaches and administrators around the world, over long years of his work within the IAAF, commending his role in overseeing the various training courses organised by the IAAF and the Regional Development Centre, and stressing to the trainees the importance of development and education and keeping pace with new developments in order to reap the rewards and be properly equipped to lead promising generations towards a broader horizon, calling on the trainees to adapt to the changes taking place in the minds and behaviour of the youth and junior category, in pursuit of raising them to the highest sporting levels and being a role model and inspiration for them until they become champions and stars capable of carrying the “torch” forward along the path of achievement and excellence
Here is the Major General’s speech in full. He began by saying: Athletics must take into account the demands and outlook of the new generation, for they are our future, and the only way to attract and engage them is to understand them and know how they think and how they play the sport, and we must also know how to adapt to their way of thinking, and this will help us to be a source of inspiration for them.
He added: Young athletes’ inspiration should come from the big stars of athletics, and they should also be influenced by our treatment of this sport and our achievements, as they want us to be a source of inspiration for them, and then let them express themselves afterwards, and we will be happy with their achievements after that.
Major General Al Hamad continued, saying: We face a major challenge because of the changing lifestyle of the younger generations, and reaching the highest levels in athletics requires a great deal of time and effort, and this workshop and the efforts we are making are very important for our sport and for coaches, and coaches must also take account of the stages of growth and development for young people from one stage to another, with the training programme needing to take physical and psychological changes into consideration.
Major General Al Hamad called for a system to track development through the different stages, similar to what the IAAF does in monitoring the athlete from childhood, with no waiting for quick results from young athletes, but rather focus and attention placed on these young talents and following them up in a good and systematic way so they can develop, with achievements coming in due course, while abandoning some unstructured or illogical methods in athletics.
Major General Al Hamad also stressed that coaches should draw on specialists in other fields related to the athlete, because the coach’s role is very important, as he is the one who translates information into training programmes for the athlete, stressing that the Asian federation’s goal is to bring experts and coaches together in one place so their efforts can combine in the service of the athlete, and that the experts invited to attend the workshops will work to reach the desired goals, and I am quite certain of their contributions, which will help develop training methods, ultimately improving athletes’ results in the right way.
He confirmed that the coaches’ workshop is being organised to coincide with the first Asian Youth Championships as a clear affirmation of the attention and focus placed on this category of athletes, given its importance in developing athletics, and we are confident that we are providing a good and excellent service to the world athletics family who deal with athlete development programmes, and we are happy to contribute to these sporting development efforts as well
In closing his remarks he had a message for the coaches, saying: We certainly cannot jump straight to the top of the building, but we can climb the stairs to reach the summit, and I hope you will contribute your positive input and observations under the leadership of Captain Abdulmalek Al Habil, who has proven his great abilities and has confirmed how important he is in athletics after training thousands of coaches, and I believe this is the right time to work together and move forward to achieve this accomplishment
