(Photo: © FIH)
The International Coaching Course is the first of its kind to be organized by the International Hockey Federation (FIH) in collaboration with the African Hockey Federation (AfHF) and with the support of the Ghana Hockey Association.
The goalkeeper trainers were taken through practical and theory sessions, special presentations and analysis of matches at the African Cup for Club Championship to expose them to current trends in their field at both Development and High Performance levels.
Internationally renowned goalkeeper coaches, Carel Van Staak, from the Netherlands and Roger Newcombe from the UK believe that equipped with this know-how the trainers will be well-placed for advancement in the FIH coach certification and accreditation system.
According to Van Staak, the course is very useful because “goalkeeping is a specialized aspect of the game. So it is important to have specialists handling it. What use is it if you score all the goals and concede so much?”
Asked why it has taken the FIH this long to put together such a course, Roger Newcombe intimated that “goalkeepers are always the forgotten group. It’s only after the goals are conceded that the goalkeeper is remembered.”
About twenty-two goalkeeper coaches attended the course from around the continent.
