By Joey Aguilar
Staff Reporter
A two-day workshop for Qatari youth coaches has attracted dozens of participants, who received advanced training that will be useful in teaching their players.
Dubbed as the Qatar Youth Coaches’ Workshop, the event was part of Global Sports Partners (GSP) and the US embassy’s “Train-the-Trainers” programme. It is designed to provide excellent training for local youth sport coaches and educators.
The programme invited three expert instructors: one each for physical education (PE), football and basketball.
“The workshop taught local coaches how to emphasise personal and social development as they coach and mentor the young athletes in their programmes,” said Spencer Sullivan, GSP’s director for the Middle East and Arabian Peninsula.
The event was attended by the US embassy’s cultural affairs attache, Kristen Aanstoos and Dr Ayman Hammoda, general supervisor and director of the cultural committee at Al Rayyan Sports Club.
Sullivan noted that one of their main objectives is to teach all of the 35 participants to become effective sport coaches who understand the importance of being “positive role models.”
“The US-Qatarsports partnership is flourishing, not only on the level of global events, such as the 2022 World Cup, but also on the level of individual and youth development such as these workshops,” said US ambassador Dana Shell Smith. “The connections built through programmes like this will help expand and sustain that partnership for years to come, benefiting both our countries’ coaches, athletes and youth all around,” she stressed.The three expert instructors included Doug Williams, Matt Hoppe and Jack Sears.
Sullivan provides co-ordination and support for GSP’s work in the countries of Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Qatar and UAE while pursuing future opportunities in other countries of the Arabian Peninsula and Middle East.
Williams is the head coach of men’s soccer at Hinds Community College in Raymond, Mississippi.
He has held the position for 17 years where his teams have won numerous district and state championships. Hoppe is the head coach/head of basketball development for the London Pulse Basketball Club. He has also coached numerous basketball teams at several levels from middle school to university.
Sears has extensive experience in coaching and is a university professor and PE instructor at universities (University of Texas and Sam Houston State University) and high schools in Texas.
Sport experts brief young Qatari participants during the training.
