By Caoilte de Barra
From October 20th-22nd, IMMAF launched an important new Coaching Qualification course in the city of Omsk, Russia. The course introduced the next level of IMMAF coaching qualification aimed at the development of the youth coach competence. 65 coaches from all over the Siberian part of Russia attended the course.
There were also some international representatives from Kazakhstan and Tajikistan in attendance. This included Head Coach Zijaev Rustam and CEO of TAJMMAF, Pirov Khushmahmad. The course was delivered by Andrew Moshanov, assisted by Youth Head Coach for Russia Georgii Emelianov and Head Coach of Kazakhstan Bajan Zangalov.
Siberian Academy of PE & Sport provided the auditorium for two half days of lectures, and MMA Club “Ermak” was the base for the practical sessions and assessments.
Speaking after the event, IMMAF Director of Development Andrew Moshanov explained some important points he delivered to participants.
“There were a few messages sent to the participants, the main points were:
1) children are not just small adults
2) Pre-puberty age is the critical time of the biggest physiological turbulence, therefore a coach needs thoughtful application of drills and physical exercises.
3) children born after 2012 are a very special group, known as “generation alpha”, with affected attention span, with the ability to digest information only in small chunks, resisting any rigid structure of the classroom and favouring quick success, similar to the instant availability of any information via Google. “
Following completion of the course, Moshanov was pleased with how the two days went.
“I am happy with the skills and competence demonstrated by the newly certified coaches and wish them success in their everyday job with this very sensitive age group of 6-10 yrs olds. I am sure that coaches assimilated themselves with the need to adapt their old methods of formal teaching to the realities of today. That was the major message from the course.”
Bajan Zangalov (Kazakhstan) mentioned in his address to the coaches that the format of the assessment of coaching skills during this course was somewhat unique, as coaches had to present themselves (assignments) in front of the other coaches, almost performing under pressure, but this allowed them to reinforce their confidence.
Georgii Emelianov (Russia) commented:
“It was a great experience for all of us. We are grateful to the IMMAF Development department for bringing this program to Russia. Sport in our country is state-regulated and all our coaches have compulsory higher education in PE and Sports. Nevertheless, we learnt so much during the course, it helped all coaches to take a fresh look on the coaching matters and from a different perspective.”
Andrew Moshanov continued, “It was remarkable to meet a few extremely successful coaches, who have built solid youth clubs in their city’s youth clubs with incredible membership of 500+. I was very impressed with the network of youth clubs with circa 1000 members in the city of Novosibirsk. Their experience is worth studying and spreading among the mixed martial arts community worldwide.
IMMAF will be rolling out the next level of coaching qualification from 2022, with one more course pilot in Bucharest, Romania at the end of November this year. National Federations are invited to attend and can book their slot by contacting [email protected].
