29 Apr 2021

20 Coaches successfully attended the first Coach Education Course of 2021, an Olympic Solidarity Course for Coaches which comprised of an ITTF-PTT Level 1 Coach Education course and a Training Camp. Malawi, commonly known and referred to as the warm heart of Africa for its great hospitality, was the host of this activity.

By Michael Kuria, Africa Participation Officer

During the course, held in Malawi’s capital Lilongwe from 10 to 20 April 2021 under the guidance of ITTF Africa Participation Officer Michael Kuria,  participants met for two 3-hour sessions across five days, with the final day dedicated to Para Table Tennis. Upon conclusion, the aspiring coaches were able to put their newly acquired skills into practice during the following training camp for senior players, cadets, and Hopes.

“It’s inspiring to work with such a highly motivated and interactive group of of coaches and players. I believe this course will compliment and lead to great positive developments of the coaches and players especially with the noble support of the hard working Member Association officials and the National Olympic Committee”, Michael said.

“We are happy with the success of this very informative course and training camp. It will help us in a great way to revamp schools competition through grassroot development by the newly trained coaches. Our players also gained more knowledge and skills from the training camp, thanks to our expert. The course, training camp and discussions have heavily energized table tennis structures in Malawi. I am optimistic that the fruits of this activity will be visible soon and will remain important for our short and long term development plans.”, William Nvirenda, Secretary General – Table Tennis Association of Malawi.

“The coaching course and training camp were very effective especially to me as an upcoming coach and very enlightening as a senior player. As I transition into coaching, I have realized so many mistakes we were making as players and I look forward to making sure they don’t happen with our upcoming players that I plan to coach”, Shyreen Pensulo (Coach / Player).

High Performance and Development 2017 ITTF Pan American Junior Championships