Basketball president sees shots for coaches with new course

President of the Jamaica Basketball Association (JaBA), Paulton Gordon, is anticipating the expansion of opportunities for local coaches after the completion of the new World Association of Basketball Coaches (WABC) certification programme, with the first two-week course, starting on Monday.

The first event, which ends December 17 and takes place at the University of the West Indies (UWI) gymnasium, will have 28 of the island's top coaches, who are expected to benefit from the first of its kind in the English-speaking Caribbean. It is a new thrust by WABC to revise its coaching certification.

International Basketball Federation's (FIBA) course instructor Nelson Isley will be on the island for the sessions, which will have a mixture of practical and theoretical engagements.

"With the standardisation across the world, if our coaches can attain up to a level three certification, that means they not only can coach locally, but if they get a call from Central or South America to coach a team, the process will be much easier because they would have now been registered under the WABC," said Gordon.

"What our development committee has done is to identify the top coaches on the island from the high school, collegiate and club system and for the first week we will have 14 coaches and some players going through practical sessions with Mr Isley, and then another 14 will do the same thing the following week.

"At the end of the sessions, they will be accessed with their theoretical knowledge and that will determine certification at level one," he continued.

The WABC certification course was made possible through an IOC Olympic Solidarity grant advocated for by the Jamaica Olympic Association (JOA). The initiative is part of their strategic thrust to grow human capital.

The course will also be used to sharpen the skills of the coaches already in the local system, with JABA set to have a full calendar next year, with the possible return of the Caribbean Basketball Championship early next year, as well as the CAC Games in June and July.

The successful coaches will move on to the level two course next year.