Namibia Basketball Federation (NBF) development officer Malakia Matias says the recent International Basketball Federation (FIBA) online courses offered between May and July exceeded all expectations and offered fresh insights on the game.
Over 50 officials from across Africa underwent the FIBA online courses, which capacitated coaches, referees and table officials with an abundance of new knowledge and skills around the evolution of the game.

Speaking to New Era Sport yesterday, Matias said that the federation took advantage of the inactivity caused by Covid-19 to shift focus on other aspects of the game, such as improving the skills and knowledge of those involved in its daily running. 
He further said given the fact that in the past Namibia has always struggled to get experts in the basketball fraternity, this online course taught them a lot on how to go about doing things.

“The online courses took place between May and July during the beginning of the lockdown. We have used that opportunity to equip ourselves with the necessary skills. The courses are meant to capacitate the officials and enable us to improve our standards, while widening our coaches’ skills base. It focused mostly on how to coach mini-basketball, youth basketball teams as well as national teams,” explained Matias.
“We were also taught how to collect game statistics as well as photographic coaching, which showed us how to take basketball photos,” said Matias

He further said that the online courses served as preparation because the coaches will only be fully verified with proper documentation next year when things get back to normal.
“We are so excited to have been part of this advanced coaching course. The number of people that took part in the course will only get verified next year if things get back to normal because it’s required to do practical assessments before one gets verified,” he said.
– mkambukwe@nepc.com.na