End of Olympic Solidarity basketball and table tennis courses-Local Olympic boss urges coaches to pass on knowledge |20 December 2012

He was addressing two groups of coaches who have completed two courses held under the auspices of Socga and sponsored by the Olympic Solidarity.

Held simultaneously, the two were followed by local coaches and their counterparts from regional countries.

They were the Olympic Solidarity young basketball coaches level two course which gathered local basketball coaches and physical education teachers and the table tennis level two coaching course followed by local as well as coaches from countries of the zone 7 region – Mauritius, Madagascar and Djibouti.

Fédération Internationale de Basketball (Fiba) instructor, Senegalese Seydou Sano, and International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) expert, Jordanian Mohamed Atoum, were the course lecturers.

The two closing ceremonies, held at the national swimming pool and at the Socga headquarters at Roche Caïman were attended by Socga secretary general Alain Alcindor and executive committee members of the two sports.

During the closing ceremony, the coaches received participation certificates offered by the IOC as they await their final exam results.

Mr Gopal reminded the coaches that regardless of the exam outcome, they have already acquired sufficient knowledge and capacity to take their sports further. He also noted that the knowledge gained will be useless if not shared and put into practice for the benefit of their sports.

Addressing the basketball coaches, Mr Sano also reminded them that the skills gathered are not for them personally, but rather to be shared among the youth, ensuring a solid base for the development of the sport. He expressed his gratitude to the Seychelles Basketball Federation and Socga for the opportunity and promised to come back to Seychelles.

As for Mr Atoum, he praised the coaches for their devotion and commitment towards the sport. He also urged them to keep pushing forward and broaden their knowledge to better deliver and bring table tennis to a much higher level in the region.

The two instructors received gifts and token of appreciation during the ceremonies.

R. D.