Bowls coaching course

THE Namibia Bowling Association (NBA) last week hosted a four-day training course for Level 1 coaches as part of the development of the sport of lawn bowls.

The course was overseen by Con Dixie, a Level 4 coach and a member of Bowls South Africa’s Standing Committee for Coaches. It is the policy of Bowls South Africa to help their neighbours, as they are the strongest bowling community in the region.

Six candidates attended the course, with their ages ranging from 16 to 70, which dispels the myth that bowls is just for old people. Four facilitators, who had already attended a coaching course, assisted Dixie to present the course and help candidates where they could.

A great deal of hard work, in the form of the theory of coaching, was put in by the candidates but they and the facilitators also had a lot of fun out on the bowling green doing practical work.

In addition to being taught how to coach able-bodied people, candidates were introduced to the coaching of people with disabilities such as the blind and deaf, as well as those in wheelchairs or bowlers who cannot bend their knees and have to make use of an aid called a bowling arm. The candidates themselves were the ‘pupils’ for this exercise and got to experience for themselves how it feels to have these disabilities.

On the last day of the course, candidates had to present the first coaching lesson to a new bowler, demonstrating and emphasising the correct techniques that they had learned from the course.

“The NBA, by training new coaches, hopes to improve the overall quality of lawn bowls in Namibia by teaching new bowlers the correct techniques from the beginning, as well as honing the skills of the average bowler and the national players,” the NBA said in a statement.

If anyone in Windhoek is interested in learning to play bowls, you can contact Jenny Gardiner (081 251 6738), Lesley Vermeulen (081 122 4142) or Sandy Joubert (081 147 3564). People from the coast who wish to learn to play bowls can contact Dave Gibbons (081 128 3283).

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