One of Guyana’s top table tennis coaches has recently upped his knowledge about the coaching aspect of the game.
Idi Lewis, a former Caribbean men’s singles bronze medal winner turned coach has successfully completed the International Coaching Enrichment Certificate Programme (ICECP) run by the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) in partnership with the University of Delaware and the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
Lewis was selected to participate in the course by the Guyana Table Tennis Association (GTTA) and the Guyana Olympic Association (GOA) through Olympic Solidarity.
The scholarship-based coaching education programme, which commenced September 29 last year and ended April 28 this year, was open to national coaches from around the world.
“The mission of the USOC and University of Delaware’s (UD) International Coaching Enrichment Certificate Programme (ICECP) is to provide national level coaches and those responsible for the development of the sport’s national coaching structure in their countries with a practical programme orientated towards developing proficiency in the technical, theoretical, conceptual, managerial and ethical aspects of coaching at all levels of competition,” read a statement from the organisers of the programme.
Lewis has enjoyed strong success as a coach since he stopped playing competitively and two of his charges Chelsea Edghill and Shemar Britton are among the most promising young players in Guyana a fact the GTTA took into consideration as the focus of the ICECP programme, which is to train the participants to develop athletes, fitted in with the objectives of the GTTA and the GOA. Lewis said that the course was also geared towards providing the participants with the skills and competency needed to train coaches back home.
The programme, he said consisted of modules, the first module was held at the University of Delaware last year and lasted some two weeks.
That module entailed lectures, projects, guest speakers, presentations by the participants, group discussions, field trips and project planning.
The second module, which lasted one week, took place immediately following the first module and included an apprenticeship of Lewis’s specific sport and a continuation of the course curriculum taught at the U.S. Olympic Training Center.
The third module saw the participants continuing the development of the participant’s personal project and of the coaching education programme through practical application of coaching methodologies taught by the USOC’s Sport Performance Services division and other experts.
The final four days of that module was dedicated to the coaching of the participants on their projects by their tutors and included a presentation by the participants of their proposed projects. The fourth module. From which Lewis recently returned, took place at the IOC Headquarters and the Olympic Museum in Lausanne.
“The course was very enlightening. What I found was a lot of stuff I already knew from the standpoint of being a player. All in all the course was very informative and very enlightening,” Lewis told Stabroek Sport upon his return.
“We covered a lot of sports science, psychology, marketing and the long term athletes’ development during the overall course,” said Lewis a former Caribbean junior boys’ champion. He added that there were lots of interaction with the tutors and the lecturers.
“There were a series of presentations all sports related some were done in groups and some individually,” said Lewis.
Lewis said he was grateful to Arron Fraser of Wartsila and the Wartsila Company, Dr. Duncan of Computer World, Godfrey Munroe president of the GTTA, KA. Juman Yassin of the GOA, Malteenoes Sports Club and other officials of the GTTA.
“First and foremost I would like to thank God for without him none of this would have been possible. Also my family for their continued support throughout my entire career,” said Lewis.
The successful candidates were awarded a certificate from the University of Delaware and the U.S. Olympic Committee.
