ICECP::International Coaching Enrichment Certificate Program

The ICECP program began to take its course today. The day consisted of four lectures starting at nine o’clock in the morning and lasted until five o’clock at night.

The morning began with Ian Weithers, a 2009 ICECP participant, presented his project to the new coaching participants. The coaches were able to view what a final project should look like at the end of the program. Ian made it well known that there will be struggles that come along with the project: picking a title, wanting to do much in such a sort amount of time, etc. When the presentation came to a close a question and answer session began. Having a pier mentor to guide and pave the road ahead of them gave the coaches more confidence in their ability to master their individual project.

Dr. Lynn Mackler presented about “Safe Return to Athletic Competition”. The hour long lecture was a brief run through of good rehabilitation techniques as well as a ten guideline a coach should before returning their athlete to competitive play.

Dr. David Barlow swept the afternoon sessions by storm enlightening the coaches about biomechanics in sport. Dr. Barlow explained that science is involved in sport. For example in the 2008 Olympic Games the United States swimmers wore different bodysuits for swimming events. These body suits cut down the swimmers time and soared the United States to numerous medals. He also stated, “Coaches are scientists.” Coaches are capable of analyzing the musculoskeletal actions occurring in the performance of a skill and are well on their way toward making precision motion analysis. For the final hour and a half Dr. Barlow educated the class on the human body anatomy.

At the end of the day the coaches were surprised with the amount of material they had gathered within one day. The participants appear to be excited with the knowledge they have gained. Aaron Nawuoh, a volunteer National table tennis coach for Liberia, stated, “The professors have easily presented their material for us to understand. I am excited to be able to go back to Liberia with this material.” When asked how the first three days have been he responded, “It is a great atmosphere. The anticipation I had for the program has been beaten.”