Use skills, coaches urged

The National Sports

Special Olympics PNG football coaches are encouraged to utilise their skills to create more awareness for people to respect and understand those living with disabilities.
SOPNG president Takale Tuna made the comment when commending 22 coaches who took part in a refresher course as they prepare for Play Unified Football Competition which will start in August.
“The coaches must be organising a football team to participate in the Play Unified Competition,” he told the coaches recently.
Tuna   thanked PNG Sports Foundation and Digicel PNG Limited for continuously supporting the Football for Hope programme.
He also thanked the teachers for taking time from their duties to attend the training.
Tuna said the Football For Hope programme, in partnership with PNG Sports Foundation’s Ability Sports programme, trained the 22 coaches recently.
“The aim of the two-day workshop was to refresh the knowledge of coaches, who are already with Play Unified Football, and also introduce new coaches to the programme,” he said.
“Coaches were given theory and practical assessments  on how to do proper warm ups, drills and skills sessions, mini games sessions,  fun cool down activities to ensure they make their training plans inclusive , fun and creative to include athletes with intellectual disabilities.”
Many coaches were excited to be part of the programme and are ready to bring their teams to be part of the competition. Last year eight teams took part in the five-a-side football competition run by Special Olympics PNG for six months.
Hohola Demonstration Primary School, Cheshire DisAbility Services and Red Cross Special School were the three sides in the competition.
For this year’s competition 12 teams have already confirmed their participation.
PNG Sports Foundation’s director of marketing and PNG Games John Susuve  was happy to be part of the programme and wants to see this partnership grow to ensure all people with disabilities were included.
He said seven coaches from the training would be part of the technical official team for para sports in November this year.
The workshop was facilitated by Sophia Tuna,  national programme co-coordinator of the Ability Sports programme and Level 2 Play Unified coach Willie Vaira of PNG Sports Foundation.