Gymnastics takes centre stage
Coaches to get training
The first aerobic gymnastics coaching course in Namibia is under way in Swakopmund, presented by three qualified International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) instructors.
Forty participants from all 14 regions are attending the nine-day level-one course from 3 to 11 October.
Instructors Khadidja Zeroc from Algeria, Eva Szloboda from Hungary and Tammy Johnson from South Africa, who is the course leader, arrived in Namibia on Sunday.
Aerobic gymnastics combines aerobics, acrobatic gymnastics, rhythmic gymnastics and artistic gymnastics along with music, dance and choreography.
Speaking to Nampa on Monday, the sport officer in the Erongo Region, Selma Siwombe, who is also the president of aerobic gymnastics in Namibia, said the course will empower local teachers and community members with knowledge of the sport.
“The ministry has approved to implement gymnastics as a sport in all the regions and we are going to start at the grassroots level. That is why we are going to train teachers and community members with the latest knowledge of the sport so they can start identifying athletes from the grassroots level.”
Siwombe added that coaches all over the country have been identified but they do not have the basic knowledge of the sport, which makes it difficult to identify or train talented gymnasts.
“Gymnastics is a complicated sport, which has different disciplines and it’s a very technical sport, not like soccer, which is simple to identify talent in.
“We want these selected individuals to at least know the different disciplines of the sport plus how they work, which in the future will help the ministry in developing the sport throughout the country,” said Siwombe.
-Nampa
Forty participants from all 14 regions are attending the nine-day level-one course from 3 to 11 October.
Instructors Khadidja Zeroc from Algeria, Eva Szloboda from Hungary and Tammy Johnson from South Africa, who is the course leader, arrived in Namibia on Sunday.
Aerobic gymnastics combines aerobics, acrobatic gymnastics, rhythmic gymnastics and artistic gymnastics along with music, dance and choreography.
Speaking to Nampa on Monday, the sport officer in the Erongo Region, Selma Siwombe, who is also the president of aerobic gymnastics in Namibia, said the course will empower local teachers and community members with knowledge of the sport.
“The ministry has approved to implement gymnastics as a sport in all the regions and we are going to start at the grassroots level. That is why we are going to train teachers and community members with the latest knowledge of the sport so they can start identifying athletes from the grassroots level.”
Siwombe added that coaches all over the country have been identified but they do not have the basic knowledge of the sport, which makes it difficult to identify or train talented gymnasts.
“Gymnastics is a complicated sport, which has different disciplines and it’s a very technical sport, not like soccer, which is simple to identify talent in.
“We want these selected individuals to at least know the different disciplines of the sport plus how they work, which in the future will help the ministry in developing the sport throughout the country,” said Siwombe.
-Nampa
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