Regional Olympic Solidarity Technical Course for Coaches in Swaziland

"A Good Coach Makes the Difference!" This was the motto of the course for coaches organised in the Kingdom of Swaziland, Africa from 11 to 15 October 2004. Financed by SOCGA (Swaziland Olympic and Commonwealth Games Association) through Olympic Solidarity and using the newly created FEI Coaching System the course took place at the wonderful facilities of Kate Taman, the active President of SWZ NF.

In total, fourteen multi-skill coaches from Botswana, Kenya, Namibia, Zambia and Swaziland took part. Sixteen observers came everyday and followed the course with much interest. The course was under the tutorship of Kathy Amos Jacob, FEI Tutor from France, who is well known in the area for having taught riding lessons in Zimbabwe, Zambia and Swaziland for 2 years.
Although the course was very intensive, all candidates actively participated with much enthusiasm and interest demonstrating a great spirit of cooperation and friendship. The course Level I fitted perfectly with their technical level as well as their capacity to comprehend the interactive communication learning technique.

The first day was dedicated to the Introduction of coaching while the two first days of Level I focused on modules like Mental Fitness, Development of the Skill, Motivation, the Role of the Coach. The last two days were dedicated to the flat work, lungeing and jumping gymnastics. The work on grid lines began in a somehow chaotic fashion but finished the last day brilliantly. The jumping gymnastic exercises have proven to be an excellent tool in promoting progress and were well accepted and put to use by the coaches. The flat work went fine but problems occurred during the lungeing and placed more than one in a difficult position! Lungeing is not very much used in this area and more time would have been needed to resolve the difficulties.

Those who played the "guinea pigs" were excellent and played their role perfectly. The same 2-3 guinea pigs with the same horses were used throughout the course.

The course was attended every day by Mrs Muriel Hofer, the Secretary General of the SOCGA, instigator of this project. The SOCGA actively contributed to the success of this course in such aspects like finance, technical equipment, transport, accommodation, food and entertainment. The closing ceremony was also attended by the Chairman of the SWZ Sports Council, the President of the SOCGA and the Vice-President of the SWZ NF.

Feedback from the coaches revealed that their main concern now is that their NFs continue the system locally and that they are not abandoned. In this respect, the logbook which serves as an assessment to attend a Level II, will maintain the contact between all actors, i.e. Coach, NF, FEI, Tutor.
The FEI would like to very sincerely thank Kate Taman and her staff for their hospitality, the very efficient organization of the course, and for having lent her beautiful facilities which allowed the course to run so smoothly.

The FEI would also like to extend its gratitude to Muriel Hofer, the SOCGA Secretary General for her continuous support towards our coaching system and without whom this course would have never happened.