The FIH-AHF Raja Ashman Shah Coaching Course was conducted in Yangon, Myanmar from the 24thto the 28thof August. The course yielded a very positive response with its conduction. The conductor of the course was Tai Beng Hai, who is an International Hockey Federation (FIH) coach, FIHA trainer and a coach educator. Mr. Hai has also been a former Olympian and the coach for Malaysia.
The President of the Myanmar Hockey Association, Mr. Saw Lulu Htaw gave much praise to the Asian Hockey Federation for their efforts to extend the initiations of hockey within Myanmar. He diverted the direction of the attention to Mr. Tayyab Ikram, the Chief Executive of the Asian Hockey Federation, and gave him significant credit to the evolving standard of hockey within Myanmar.
The course coordinator hailing from Myanmar was Thein Htwe and Tin Aung Mo. The venue for the lectures was the Myanmar Hockey Federation Office in Yangon which had total participants of 30 individuals. The practical leg of the course was held Myanmar Hockey Stadium Rangoon.
There were a number of topics covered during the course. In much detail was the role and responsibilities of a coach in modern hockey discussed. They were also briefed on how to make a training session.
One of the more favorite courses for the participants was that they had teaching lessons on how to act in Penalty Corner situations, both attacking and defending. In addition to this, there was a special session aimed at only the Goalkeepers, which was also received very well.
There was a short-term training plan shared with the participants, for them to be able to train more professionally. The Myanmar Training also incorporated within them a long-term plan for the athletes and how steps can be taken for the betterment and refinement of hockey within Myanmar, both for the players and the association.
Participants were given individual assignments across the spread of the course, to be a good metric to gauge their own personal journey. The course also included several video sessions for the participants to be able to visualize what they were taught and how techniques taught in the course were applicable at the professional level.
