| Lina Mohamad |
PARALYMPIC Council of Brunei Darussalam (PCBD) has selected two local coaches Haji Wahid bin Ismail and Azmize bin Abdul Rahman to participate in the Para-Sports Workshop in Tokyo, Japan from July 13-15.
This was stated during a press conference yesterday at the Japanese Embassy chancery in Kampong Kiulap.
Participants will attend the sports workshop organised by the Nippon Sports Science University (NSSU) Japan.
Present at the press conference were Japanese Ambassador to Brunei Darussalam Motohiko Kato, Director of Coaching Excellence Centre at NSSU Professor Masamitsu Ito, and Tomohiro Kanemoto from NSSU.
Haji Wahid and Azmize will gain knowledge and experience from the world leading coaching programme. They will be joined by 14 other leaders.
They will learn on the effective development technique on coaching, which will benefit them and the country. Such knowledge can be applied not only to paralympic sports, but also to other sports.
As the biggest sports university, NSSU boasts vast experiences in coaching and successful athlete development programmes. They will also work closely with the International Paralympic Committee (IPC).
Brunei was identified by IPC as one of the countries that needs support in coaching.
“I do hope with their support, many disabled young Bruneians will be able to take part in Paralympic games and they will provide many programmes to the Brunei Government to ensure the Paralympic team perform very well in the upcoming Paralympic Games,” Japanese Ambassador said.
He also expressed hopes that the Brunei Government can send Paralympic team to the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic games.
“Paralympic games are also important for the Japanese government to let young disabled people enjoy doing sports. Although Brunei did not participate in the Rio Paralympic games, Japan hopes they will participate in the Tokyo games,” he added.
Other than encouraging young Bruneians to enjoy sports, the collaboration will also ensure sustainability for Brunei’s commitments toward Paralympic games for the good of long-term perspective.
“From this viewpoint, we are determined to do whatever we can to invite young disabled Bruneians to Tokyo and the university intends to do their best especially in coaching and assist doing paper works,” he said.
Representing NSSU, Professor Masamitsu Ito, whose main research area is sports coaching and coach development in Paralympic and athletic, noted that they are to discuss on the challenges that can be worked out between NSSU and PCBD in realising the ability to participate in the 2020 games.
“Most importantly, we are not just doing this job for 2020 but we also love to see your country keep participating in Olympic Games after 2020 as well, so this is not only for Tokyo but also for Paris and Los Angeles as well,” he said.
Talking about the workshop, Tomohiro Kanemoto shared that the three-day workshop at the NSSU Setagaya campus will be facilitated by himself, Director of CoachSG, Sport Singapore Troy Engle and Head Coach of the Australian Paralympics Athletics Team Chris Nunn.
Participants will engage in a one-day programme by NSSU Coach Developer Academy (NCDA) before the workshop.
“When you are a coach, you will expect better athletes but who can develop those better coaches. We need coach trainers. So that is the concept. This is another programme we are running and they will be in that programme as well for one day before starting their workshop to improve and develop their coaching skills,” Kanemoto said.
The Japanese Government will cover airfare and accommodation costs for participants, as part of the Sports for Tomorrow Programme – a government-run project towards the 2020 Paralympic and Olympic Games.