Thursday, August 19, 2022 – Maite, Guam

The first day of the OSEP Development Coach course was hosted at the Guam National Olympic Committee’s third-floor conference room in Maite.  The four-day course continues through Friday, August 26, 2022, with twenty-four participants representing various National Federations and the Guam Department of Education.

The course is facilitated by the Guam OSEP Master Educators Tara Tydingco and National Lead Master Educator Joey Miranda III alongside subject experts Dr. Ryan Claros, Dr. Paul Claros, and Lenora Makela.  “This is the first deliverance of this course post-pandemic.  The initial course was delivered through the facilitation of Mentor Lemeki Savua of Fiji in February2020, prior to the onslaught of COVID-19.” According to Miranda.

All participants were welcomed by the NLME as he reviewed housekeeping procedures, course overview, the structure of the Guam National Olympic Committee, Oceania National Olympic Committees, and Oceania Sport Education Program.  The introduction of facilitators and participants was combined with hopes and concerns along with an activation exercise.  After the icebreaker, module 1 was delivered by the NLME on coaching principles and the coaching process.  The module was facilitated through activities that included group work sessions on what is Coaching, what is Ethics in Coaching, and what is Team Culture where coaches shared their experience in the field.

The next module activity was facilitated through a coaching ethics debate on statements of coaches and relationships within a team on the national federation front as well as in school and club settings.  The debate topics showed both the positive and negative aspects of not allowing coaches to head a program that included members on the team that may have an impact due to personal relationships.

After a short dinner break, Dr. Ryan Claros delivered the first of four segments on Module 2, Planning and Delivery, and Module 6,Long-Term Athlete Development.  He discussed the periodization chart introducing the Micro-cycle, Mesocycle, and Macrocycle, and identified the stages of athlete development.  He focused on placing the athlete at the center of everything we do as a coach in our sport, achieving optimal training, competition, and recovery throughout an athlete’s career, particularly in relation to the important growth and development years of young people.  Dr. Claros closed the day’s topics on being a catalyst for change through the LTAD and the growth stages of each gender.

Lenora Makela recapped the day’s activities and discussed other aspects of Nutrition through a question from the participants.  Thereafter, she provided an overview of the Day 2 program which includes Module 3, Safety in Coaching, the criteria for Coach in Action, and in-depth analysis of Module 2 and 6.

Overall, the first day of the course went very well, with everyone participating in each activity. Although Module 1’s timing went a tad behind schedule, proper compensations were made that provided an otherwise flawless evening.

‍