COVID-19 is hitting India hard. This also influences our projects. But luckily we’ve been able to work with our local coaches during the lockdown in small groups to keep the spirits up!
Unfortunately, because of past and current travel restrictions we are not able to give face to face coaching courses, so we had to come up with an alternative. The coaching courses and workshops for the grassroots programs and RDC in Khunti are now given online. A big challenge to set this up, since hardly any of the 40 coaches has access to computers or a smartphone. Most coaches followed the online coaching course by borrowing a smartphone or computer from their community. Next challenge was that our coaching, living in the most remote areas had find a decent internet connection. We heard the funniest back ground noises.
Under the surveillance of Anouk Meeter the online course took place each fortnight. The focus of this course was on personal development of the coach and hockey techniques and tactics. During the online course the coaches were challenged to participate in an interactive and fun way. They had to write down a full training session, organize a tournament (on paper), develop a safety policy (in preparation of and during a training). And in the personal development field they had to present their strengths and what skills they still need to develop and learning how to present oneself. At the beginning they were nervous and uncomfortable but later on you can notice they grow in this role. Also, working in such a manner and with the technologies used was very new to them.
According to Anouk, she also learned a lot personally about this program. ‘’The way we set up this course, is something which we in the Netherlands adapt to very quickly. To work remote is almost normal for us now. But to do this with coaches in India, is much more challenging. But you learn to be patient. To see the coaches develop themselves, especially on a personal level, is something that makes me proud. Not only about what they have achieved, but what we’ve achieved together!’’
