This past weekend, local school-based sports coaches from various parts of Port Elizabeth, gained invaluable insights into cutting edge coaching techniques from some of the world’s leading sports coaches at the Powerade Performance Academy. The Academy, hosted at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium on Sunday, 24 July, saw a number of high profile performance experts running an informative and interactive seminar. Among these experts were current IPL Delhi Daredevils coach, Paddy Upton and current head coach for the SA Men’s Hockey team, Fabian Gregory, who empowered PE based coaches with vital knowledge to optimize their players’ performances.
Over the years, Powerade has sustained its commitment to young South African sportsmen by providing them with the necessary platforms to achieve their ultimate sporting goals. In line with this commitment, Powerade has aimed much of its focus on school coaches in recognition of their role as primary influencers of the next generation of South Africa’s sporting heroes.
Sapna Naran, Powerade Brand Manager, Coca-Cola Africa, commented, “Powerade believes that by providing experiences such as the Powerade Performance Academies to coaches, born sportsmen will be introduced to the science of correct training and the benefits of hydration. This should in turn help enable them to reach peak fitness at the right time. We want to show our support of coaches by empowering them, through the Powerade Performance Academies, with knowledge of the best coaching practises from around the world, which they can now apply to the betterment of their players.”
The Powerade Performance Academy exposed the 43 coaches in attendance to international best practices including the latest in training and hydration information and insights tried and tested by some of the best international coaches from around the world, who included:
- Paddy Upton: current IPL Delhi Daredevils coach;
- Fabian Gregory: current head coach of the SA Men’s Hockey team;
- Zac van Heerden: former conditioning specialist and physiologist for Mamelodi Sundowns and the Portuguese National Football Team;
- Tom Dawson-Squibb: mental coach for The Stormers, Sharks, Ajax Cape Town and The SA ladies golf and rugby teams.
Ilse Jenneker, soccer, netball and rugby coach from Kings College commented on her experience, “I thoroughly enjoyed the Powerade Performance Academy and I think it is amazing that Powerade has created this initiative. The entire session has been extremely motivating and it has been great to see so many local PE school coaches empowered and provided with vital skills. I will certainly be using all that I have learnt, especially elements from the mental coaching session to create positive outcomes on the sporting field.”
Key themes covered on the day included: leadership, physical conditioning and injury management, sports vision and the power of performance.
“The value of the Powerade Performance Academies is to enlighten, upskill and motivate coaches working with our future stars to successfully negotiate the challenges that lie ahead,” concluded conditioning specialist Zac van Heerden.
Powerade will host two further Performance Academies around South Africa, in Cape Town and Johannesburg/Pretoria.
Alan Straton
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