Olympic Solidarity – Programme d'Appui International au Sport Africain et des Caraïbes (Paisac) |07 September 2022

Socga president Antonio Gopal awarding judo coach Naddy Jeanne with his certificate (Photo: Joena Meme)

Coaches Nady Jeanne and Ana Barra graduate after completing Paisac training

Judo coach Nady Jeanne and his counterpart from the athletics federation Ana Barra have been accredited after successfully completing different levels of training offered by the Programme d'Appui International au Sport Africain et des Caraïbes under the Olympic Solidarity.

Coach Jeanne, who is in charge of the Etoile Judo Club, completed his first Programme d'Appui International au Sport Africain et des Caraïbes (Paisac) scholarship (classical training), while coach Barra has successfully completed her Advanced Level four.

Both coaches received their certificate from the president of the Seychelles Olympic and Commonwealth Games Association (Socga) Antonio Gopal, in the presence of Socga secretary general Alain Alcindor, Socga’s executive committee members, as well as representatives of the local athletics and judo governing bodies on Monday during a special ceremony held the Olympic House, Roche Caïman.

In his classic training – open to coaches of an Olympic sport of all levels – which was divided into two phases, coach Jeanne covered areas such as mindfulness, talent detection, prevention of harassment and abuse in sport in the first phase, while in the second phase topics such as energy system, performance planning, Olympic programmes, and the World Anti-doping Agency were covered.

As for the advanced training, it is done on the selection of Paisac and acceptance of the National Olympic Committee among the scholarship holders who have successfully passed the classical level.

This training is also funded by a scholarship from the Olympic Solidarity.

Compared to previous years, due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, a hybrid – online and face-to-face – programme is being offered since spring 2020, allowing coaches to continue to improve their skills remotely.

The first phase of the programme took place locally between November 1 and December 11, while the second phase was held in Montreal, Canada from May 2-30, 2022.

Backed by the Olympic Solidarity, Paisac is an African initiative of development through sport. It has been developed in collaboration with the French-speaking African sports environment in order to be able to respond better to the specific needs of its coaches and sports trainers. It now also operates in Commonwealth countries.

Among the list of local Paisac recipients are Barnsley Albert, Robert Suzette (swimming), Emmanuel Larue, Tony Hortere (handball), Philip Arissol (basketball), Gerry Legras (boxing), Gavin Jeanne (football), Ruudy Joseph (volleyball) and Ricardo Suzette (athletics).

Other than the coaches, Mr Alcindor is also a Paisac graduate after following a one-year (Executive Masters in Sport Organisations Management – MEMOS) for professionals working in national or international sports bodies to develop the knowledge and skills required to better manage their organisations.

Roland Duval