Coach the Coaches   GoSports Foundation started the year 2013 with a lot of confidence. The confidence that our support helped 21 PACE Scholars further their sporting careers; the confidence enforced by the trust of many of our donors who came back to support us this year as well. This confidence has resulted in GoSports Foundation launching the PACER Projects - special projects aimed at research, knowledge management and personalized athlete-oriented interventions. As part of the PACER Projects, we conducted two Coach Education workshops for Badminton coaches from across the country. More than 50 coaches took part in the workshops. Read on to find out more.   Prakash Padukone Badminton Academy Coaches’ Refresher Clinic   Having supported athletes from various sporting disciplines since 2008, we have come to realize that there is no dearth of talented junior athletes in India. For Badminton, a sport which has gained a lot of momentum in India over the past few years, the challenge lies in aligning the right support system for these promising young athletes. The GoSports Foundation partnered with Prakash Padukone Badminton Academy and conducted “The Badminton Coaches’ Refresher Programme” – a 3-day workshop, held between 28th February and 2ndMarch, 2013, with renowned Indonesian coach Yusuf Jauhari.  Mr. Jauhari has more than three decades of experience in Badminton coaching. The athletes he has trained have gone on to win numerous medals for Indonesia; some of his most noteworthy pupils include World Doubles Champion Chandra Wijaya and Olympic Silver medallist Mia Audina. The Clinic was attended by 17 coaches from Karnataka, Maharashtra, Goa, Tamil Nadu and Kerala. During the course of the 3-day workshop, the coaches were taught various aspects of modern Badminton coaching, right from the basics of racquet preparation and body posture, to the intricacies of footwork, both for singles and doubles. There were sessions on sports nutrition, strength and conditioning, and coaches’ approach to kids during training. Click here to read the full report on the Coaches' Refresher Clinic.   Mr. Yusuf Jauhari, along with Mr. Prakash Padukone, Mr. Vimal Kumar and the other participating coaches at the Prakash Padukone Badminton Academy in Bangalore Intermediate Level Coach Education Programme in partnership with Badminton Association of India   GoSports Foundation, in association with the Badminton Association of India conducted the “Intermediate Level Coach Education Programme” for Badminton Coaches across India. The intensive 8-day long certification programme was held at the Pullela Gopichand Badminton Academy in Hyderabad, from the 23rd to the 30th of March, 2013. 34 coaches from all over India, with varied backgrounds and coaching experience, attended the workshop. The programme was a first-of-its-kind certification programme for Badminton coaches in India. The Coach Education Programme was conceptualized, in December 2012, after a discussion between the Executive Committee of the Badminton Association of India and the GoSports Foundation. GoSports Foundation was the Knowledge and Execution Partner for the Programme.   The course was designed to educate the coaches about the most recent global trends in Badminton Coaching. An important objective of the course was to align the training programmes all across India to fall in line with the National Training Programme for all age groups. We believe that this would ensure a larger talent pool is fed into the national circuit. Apart from the technical nuances of Badminton, the programme included comprehensive discussions and practical sessions on sports physiology, nutrition, sports medicine, psychology and conditioning. A comprehensive assessment process is in place to grade the coaches, and to understand the level of impact from the course. Each of the coaches has been asked to submit a detailed 12-week training programme for their players, which will be evaluated by the BAI Executive Committee. Coaches who qualify from the evaluation will be accredited to the BAI for conduct of National Development Programmes/National Coaching Camps. GoSports Foundation is excited by the response received from the participating coaches from both the workshops. Considering the impact a good coach can have on the sporting ecosystem, GoSports Foundation is very keen on implementing more such programmes in the future, across other Olympic sports as well. Clickhere to read a full report on the Intermediate Level Coach Education Programme. Mr. Venugopal Mahalingam, during an on-court session, with all the participating coaches at the Pullela Gopichand Badminton Academy