Maketa on sport coaches: They can change someone's life

Cape Town - The annual Powerade Performance Academy continued to be a huge success in Port Elizabeth last weekend.

It saw coaches from around the Eastern Cape listen to expert performance coaches as part of an interactive session of empowering and enriching lessons for school coaches. Powerade has aimed much of its focus on high school coaches in recognition of their role as primary influencers of the next generation of South Africa's sporting heroes.

Malibongwe Maketa assistant coach to the Proteas, Verlie Oosthuizen Partner and Head of Social Media Law at Shepston and Wyrle Associates, John McGrath Luvo Manyonga's High Performance coach and Motivational speaker and Kass Naidoo South Africa's first women cricket commentator and founder of GSports took the coaches on a journey of discovery as they spoke to them about various aspects of coaching and youth development.

"Coaches are in the position where they can change someone's life on a daily basis," said Maketa, who explored the topic of identifying talent and about coaching a diverse team.

"If there is one thing, I hope the coaches understood the reality of dealing with a group of different characters from different backgrounds. Additionally, coaches need to learn how to deal with their players, get the best out of the different characters and ensure players accept each other and work together for the benefit of the team."

Oosthuizen on social media for coaches: "Social media needs to be used responsibly and consciously, otherwise the reputation of all school stakeholders will be compromised. Coaches are often under fire by parents and old student from schools, so they need to be educated on the best practice of social media conduct either professionally and/or personally."

McGrath tackled the mental side of preparing sports men and women: "In shifting paradigms, it is about abandoning preconceived ideas that people have about their abilities and about what is conceived as a boundary."

McGrath illustrated practical examples of breaking boundaries by bending nails, breaking chains, tearing packs of cards and breaking an adjustable wrench.

"These are all metaphors for what you can do and what is possible. Everyone has an inner voice that prevents us from achieving our goals and it is up to us to decide if we would like to listen to that voice or not."

Naidoo, who is the first South African Women’s commentator and advocate of women's sport.

"It is important for coaches to consider the six routines of success as I believe that if you follow and you keep the basics in line you will achieve the desired success."

Coaching continues to be an ever-transforming discipline that incorporates innovative techniques and principles to improve performance.

The Academy allowed the coaches from the various schools and sporting codes to go back to their respective schools in the spirit of 'teach one, teach all'.

Image: Supplied