Coach Nurse wins again!
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Congratulations from all of us at VIMSIA to our beloved "Coach Nurse," Shane DeGannes, on successfully completing the IAAF Level II Middle & Long Distance Coaching Course! This course is extremely difficult to pass, but Coach Nurse embodies VIMSIA's Growth Mindset, and so he worked unbelievably hard and passed with flying colors. Why would we expect anything different from our superstar Coach? Thank you Shane for once again being such a shining example to our students both over the academic year and during the summer!
Coach Nurse shares his experience below:
I would like to again thank the Virgin Islands Track & Field Federation for selecting myself to take the IAAF Level II Middle & Long Distance Coaching Course. And a thank you is in order for the IAAF RDC San Juan for accommodating this course. Jorge Richardson, IAAF Regional Director and Erick Padro, RDC Assist to Director, facilitated all aspects of the coaches’ stay on Puerto Rico. Oscar Gadea and Roy Thomas were our instructors for the nine days. These gentlemen did a great job in pulling the best out of the coaches in our learning process. Mr. Gadea delivered his topics with conviction. His vast experience as an instructor and coach showed brightly. Mr. Thomas did an excellent job in calming the coaches’ anxiety with real life situation experiences.
Participants of the class were from the Bahamas, Anguilla, St. Vincent, Jamaica, Antigua, Dominica, Turks & Cacaos, Barbados and myself from the Virgin Islands. There were eleven students in total. Seven student passed and four students failed. It was a sad day seeing some of our fellow coaches fail but it made our accomplishments mean more. If this process was an easy task it would not have meant as much as it did.
The Level II class was very demanding. It apparently was the first class of the new IAAF Coaches Certification system. Many topics were presented on a daily basis and it was very challenging comprehending so much information for the final exams. Although this course covered topics discussed in the Level I course, more in depth instruction was given regarding the actual training plan of the U16 athlete. Topics I found to be helpful regarding the middle and long distance events training process were,
Process of training
Planning a Mesocycle
Microcycle design
General Endurance
Speed Endurance
Event Specific Endurance
These topics, amongst many more, were the concepts I wanted to struggle with. I strived to understand them and want to excel in utilizing them in the annual planning of Middle and Long Distance runners here in the Virgin Islands. This learning process will not stop here. I will continue to struggle with these concepts from the Level II course and now put it into practice.
-Shane DeGannes R.N.