Two three-day seminars will be conducted with primary school teachers from numerous schools throughout Guyana by Uwe Menzel who is a sports scientist and coach and a member of the German Olympic Sports Confederation (GOSC).
The ‘Kids Athletics Event’ is a simple programme that the International Amateur Athletics Federation (IAAF) has developed to prevent youths from too early specialization in track and field so that they can be better rounded at the sport and participate with more fun, said Wenzel in his opening remarks.
The ‘Kids Athletics Event’ will deal with how to operate points scoring systems for youths, early talent identification and what comes after the youth stages.
Early specialization is the main issue which the IAAF is trying to eliminate and this programme is a systematic plan that is expected to eliminate the problem over the years.
Wenzel said that a specially constructed kit will be used to run this programme that was made from bottles, markers and paint so that the colourful items will be more interesting to the children.
“Children are not going to want to keep doing the same thing again and again, they prefer to do a different event rather than doing the long jump over and over for example,” Wenzel said.
He studied sports in Germany for six years at the Leipzig University and is currently pursuing his PhD in Sports Neurology. This programme is one on a list of activities that the Amateur Athletic Association of Guyana (AAG) has planned to help in the development of track and field locally.
Primary school teachers from Georgetown and Berbice are going to benefit in the areas of teaching and management of sports events. The programme in Georgetown commences on September 17 and will run until Sept 19. Primary school teachers from the east, north and south district of the Guyana Teachers Union (GTU) will attend classes at the Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA) building from 9–12am and 3-5pm on the three days.
And September 23 marks the commencement of the Berbice seminar at the GTU Hall, New Amsterdam and it will run until Sept 25. Meanwhile, a one-day workshop will be conducted for club coaches on September 20.
On the final day of the programme teachers will go through a practical test to display what they have learnt and Chairman of the Development Committee of the AAG Cornell Rose said that they are seeking permission for 100 students to be released for the final day of testing for the students.
Upon completion of the workshop teachers will receive a certificate of completion that certifies them in the area of teaching and managing of kids in track and field.
