SEAN STANLEY, one of the key technical figures in the St Vincent and the Grenadines Table Tennis programme, is urging fellow coaches, irrespective of their sporting discipline, not to back down from learning more.

Stanley’s encouragement comes on the heels of his completion of an eight-month course in which he attained a Pan American High Performance Coach Certificate.

“I wish that all the coaches educate themselves … As a coach, you never stop learning as there are always new approaches, so as coaches you have to be aware of these,” Stanley told SEARCHLIGHT.

Stanley holds firm to the mantra that one is never too old to learn.

“For me, anytime as a coach you think that you know it all…it is time for you to quit coaching,” Stanley quipped.

He however feels that coaches are reluctant to be part of courses where assessments and examinations are involved for fear of ‘failure’.

“No one fails a course… one may not meet the required standard but will come away from a course more knowledgeable, therefore he or she is not a failure,” Stanley reasoned.

Stanley was among a few Vincentians who pursued the E- learning course which ran from March to November of this year, and administered by the Coaching Association of Canada.

Spanning seven modules, Stanley obtained perfect scores of 10 in Coaching Philosophy and Leadership, Advanced Performance Planning, Sport Psychology: Athlete and Coach Preparation for International Competition, High Performance Analysis, as well as Strength and Conditioning.

In the modules of Energy Systems and Physiology and Advanced Injury Prevention, Stanley scored 8.8 and 8.0, respectively. He thus ended with an overall average of 9.5. “It is an excellent programme… It was somewhat intense, as the sessions were three hours long and following every module you were assessed… It is a University- based type programme, but it was done during COVID-19 and during the eruptions of our volcano La Soufriere, which makes the success for me even sweeter… I am glad that I accepted the offer to pursue that certificate programme,” Stanley revealed.

Stanley highlighted one of the aspects of the scientific- based, non-sports specific programme, which resonated with him.

“When persons are training, what I discovered that the more you train, when you are practising a different skill, you don’t improve while training, you improve after rest… That stood out for me,” Stanley revealed.

He also has a different thinking with the prevalent notion of the use of ice for sports injuries.

Rejuvenated, re-energised and buoyed by the new and renewed knowledge, Stanley commented: “What this has done for me is that it helps me to help others; it has equipped me to fit into other programmes anywhere in the world and more, I am in better position to help the nation’s children.”

Stanley thanked the hierarchy of the SVG Olympic Committee which facilitated the process and made arrangements to have him and others be part of the course.