Kota Kinabalu: A basic muaythai coaching course organised by Sabah Muaythai Association was successfully held at the Youth Arena here from July 5-6.
A total of 54 participants completed the two-day session coordinated by State muaythai head coach Cyrille Dhillon Tahing, who was also among the panel of speakers including Mardiana Mohd Maulana (State seni coach), Ranjit Singh Maan (strength and conditioning coach), Jonathan Quan and Greg Sipidi (muaythai coaches) as well as Sabah Muaythai Association president Nazri Ab Razak.
In addition, Sabah Sports Council deputy director Valerie Woong and Nik Faiz from its sports science centre were also invited as guest speakers.
window.googletag = window.googletag || {cmd: []};googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.defineSlot('/22826383987/dailyexpress_inline', [1, 1], 'gpt-passback').addService(googletag.pubads());googletag.enableServices();googletag.display('gpt-passback');}); Cyrille said the main aim of organising the course is to strengthen the development of muaythai in Sabah.
‘This course is an important step towards expanding a more structured and professional coaching capacity across the State.
“This is one of the development programmes in line with the association’s vision and mission. Hopefully, the increased number of coaches will help to identify more athletes, especially from schools, to be further developed into quality athletes in the future,” he said.
Nazri, who officiated the closing ceremony with Valerie, was encouraged by the positive response from the participants and said the course syllabus covered important coaching components such as the ethics and responsibilities of a coach, methods of teaching basic muaythai techniques, direction of the association and a better understanding of what muaythai is about as well as sports science relevant to combat sports.
“The role and direction of coaches as a professional was also covered. The participants were also exposed to management training, communication in sports, as well as technical and tactical aspects that are the backbone of quality teaching.
“We are hoping more certified coaches can be produced throughout Sabah and help to strengthen the ecosystem for the development of muaythai athletes from the grassroots to the national and international stages,” he added.