BARBADOS (Coaches) - The development of coaches is a major part of the National Development Plan of the Barbados Amateur Basketball Association (BABA). One of its missions is not only to train youth coaches, but also to give teachers a chance to benefit from the learning process.
In Barbados this was done by giving the educators, coaches, a chance to pass an internationally accredited course to better determine their levels while having the same type of training that is given in other parts of the world.
Sterling Wright
The BABA in partnership with the Barbados Olympic Association (BOA) engaged FIBA expert Sterling Wright as part of the Olympic Solidarity Development of National Sports Structures Program for the development of basketball.
As a technical expert his responsibilities were to organize with the BABA Executive the National Basketball Development Plan and to assist the BABA in the areas that were deemed necessary to advance the sport nationally during a four months period beginning December 1, 2005 and concluding March 31, 2006.
Coach Sterling Wright arrived on the Island of Barbados on 1 December 2005. Immediately after his arrival, he set about the task of assisting with the development of basketball. The schools were contacted and club coaches notified about the classes. The television media was also utilised to bring forward the program. Wright was interviewed live on the local television station where he explained the development Project out lining the importance of the course.
A Busy Christmas Time
During the Christmas Holidays, Wright acted as coordinator of a Basketball Camp for both Junior Girls and Boys. A total of 44 players attended and they all thoroughly enjoyed themselves.
Following the successful Christmas Camp for juniors, Wright continued working with them every Saturday morning from January 2006 to March 2006. Both the boys and the girls were hosted in two sessions.
FIBA Level 1 Course
Coach Wright formulated and coordinated a FIBA Level 1 Basketball Coaching course which took place from 1-7 February 2006. He ran the sessions twice a day to accommodate those who were unable to attend during the morning periods. The course curriculum featured 9 different topic sessions which lasted 4 hours each. The subject matter was both theoretical and practical combining classroom and "on the court" time.
A Passing Grade for Everybody
Twenty-seven coaches attended the courses and twenty-one successfully passed the examination. The group who passed consisted of teachers, current coaches, some national team players, referees, and assistant coaches. All participants were extremely motivated and overall ten participants were identified as having the ability to continue in the FIBA formation thus giving them the possibility to go to the next level in the years to come.
Time for the Senior Teams
The Senior national Men and Women's Teams also benefited from Wright's instructions as he took them trough various practice sessions during the months of January, February and March of 2006.
Wright worked two nights per week with men and two nights per week with the women. It should be noted that Barbados Men's team participated for the first time in the Commonwealth Games where they finished a commendable fifth in the final standings. Coach Wright's contribution in this regard is worthy of praise.
A Historical First
One of the many breakthroughs of Wright's visit to Barbados was his assistance and expertise in aiding the BABA set up their own coaches association. Wright's expertise was essential in setting up this historical Basketball Coaches Association. On March 18, 2006 the constitution was ratified and the executive board members were voted into office.
On the same day during a special ceremony the historical moment was sealed by a special donation of Mr William Harper, coach of the National Senior Women's team, to the Secretary General of the BABA Mr George Shepherd, who received the FIBA text book entitled "Basketball for Young Players Guidelines for Coaches".
This symbolic gesture was made towards the newly formed coaches association. Harper also pledged additional materials for the group and all possible aid that he could get.
Quality and Quantity
The greatest element of importance is to increase the quality and quantity of participants of the game. There must be not only more players on all levels; but people who understand how to play the correct way. It is important that the BABA develop the game in areas that is not practiced and introduceed the sport to age categories that is not played.
A Success Story with Some Challenges
Wright feels that four months of participation in the National Basketball Development Plan of the BABA was a complete success. All of the technical objectives that were stated for accomplishment by the basketball association were met. However this is only a beginning as there is much more to be accomplished in the sport and long term and serious obstacles need to be resolved before the games reaches international required norms. It is normal that in such a brief time that only foundations for future progress were laid and that more serious concerns such as resolving major infrastructure deficiencies would only be accomplished with time and help of forces outside the various technical areas of the sport.
BABA must be commended for their efforts to move the Game forward with extremely limited means. The following areas are worth mentioning:
- A comprehensive program for junior players
- Training sessions for the local players of the National Senior Men's and Women's teams
- The FIBA level I coaching course, testing and accreditation of 21 coaches
- The BABA initiative of the under 21 league that starts in the Summer of 2006
- The National Sports Council under 15 development camps during the Easter vacation period.
Some of the Challenges
In addition to its positive efforts to bring the game of basketball forward certain areas must be addressed if basketball is to survive.
- Need to increase affordable access to courts which meet international playing standards
- The BABA has taken the step in starting a youth league. However it is not required by clubs. Need to have a more comprehensive plan to gradually introduce different age categories over the next few years, and have them mandated as a requirement of participation in the elite, or first division teams for both men and women
- Develop mini basketball, or under 10, leagues which should be a project developed by the coaches association at different zones around the country
- The BABA should develop a technical commission to better suit the needs of player and coach development
- The Christmas camp should be an annual event with the following up training session once a week
A Bright Future
Overall Wright believes that Barbados is a country that has all of the human resources to play an important role not only in the region but internationally whether it is qualifying or competing at the international level. With a little momentum and continuing efforts made by the BABA, Basketball in Barbados has the possibility of doing extremely well in the Senior Men and Women and Junior categories.
One can even imagine that in little less than one year they could learn how to build a better organisational structure and acquire the knowledge in house to produce technicians and improve the instruction of basketball. The result of this would be tremendous as it would bring Barbados basketball to the highest level of the sport.