NVF turns to grassroots coaching for national-team gains
The Namibia Volleyball Federation (NVF) is strengthening grassroots coaching structures to improve the country’s competitiveness at senior national-team level through its National Teams Coaches Development Training.
The four-day International Volleyball Federation (FIVB)-NVF initiative was held at Gaga Guesthouse in Rundu from Monday to Thursday.
It brought together 14 selected coaches from Zambezi, Erongo, Kavango East, Khomas and Otjozondjupa for theoretical and practical sessions.
NVF chief executive officer Festus Hamukwaya said the participants were identified for their ability to contribute meaningfully to the technical development of the national teams.
During the training, the coaches examined ways to establish a more consistent approach to player development across the country.
Attention to developing players
National team head coach and FIVB expert Joel Matheus said the training highlighted the need to give more attention to developing players at grassroots level.
“We came to realise through our discussions that we tend to focus more on senior volleyball and not give enough attention to development,” Matheus said.
He explained that some players reach the senior national-team setup without adequate technical foundations, partly because of shortcomings in how they are developed at a younger age.
The training therefore explored the qualifications and capabilities of existing coaches, alongside the need to establish a national playing philosophy that would guide player development from junior to senior level.
Matheus said the goal is to ensure that players developed in different parts of the country come through a common system, equipped with the technical skills required to compete at higher levels.
“If the development of athletes is done in Katima, Oranjemund or Walvis Bay, those athletes must become a product of the same system instead of disoriented systems that do not speak to each other,” he said.
Unified approach
Fellow FIVB expert Dr Thulani Maphosa, who travelled from Malawi to facilitate the training, also emphasised the importance of coaches across the country working towards the same development objectives.
He said the federation’s approach should focus on strengthening the capacity of existing coaches and equipping them with modern training methods.
“We need to streamline and capacitate our coaches to understand modern technologies and modern ways of doing volleyball and training,” Maphosa said.
He added that bringing coaches together under a common philosophy would help establish a more consistent player-development pathway across the country.
“It is about making sure that whether you are in Katima or Swakopmund, coaches speak the same language and have the same way of doing things,” he said.
The programme also incorporated analytics, artificial intelligence and data management, with UK-based analytics expert Lincoln Dokwani contributing online on how coaches can use data to inform in-game decisions.
FIVB Level Three coach Memory Dube, who heads Zimbabwe’s senior women’s national volleyball team, also facilitated sessions online, sharing insights from her coaching experience across southern Africa.
