6 to attend strength and conditioning coach course

Pacific Mini Games medalist Antonette Labausa and five other NMI representatives will attend the Oceania Sport Education Program’s Strength and Conditioning Coach Course that the Guam National Olympic Committee is hosting starting today until this Saturday.

Labausa, who won a silver medal in the Northern Marianas Pacific Mini Games 2022 and also coached the NMI women’s weightlifting team, will join CNMI Weightlifting president John Davis, wrestling’s Jason Tarkong, bodybuilding’s Derek Cutting, badminton’s Nate Guerrero, and athletics’ Nicholas Brennfleck in the four-session course in Guam. 

The Strength and Conditioning Coach Course under OSEP is part of Oceania National Olympic Committees’ initiative designed to develop sport education throughout the region. Other courses, which target community development and national level sports volunteers and professionals, focus on administration, coaching, team management, and trainer.

Labausa and Tarkong are excited to attend the course, which they believe will be very helpful in the development of their respective sports.

“Wrestling is the hardest sport I have ever trained and competed in. Since then, I have studied several mixed martial arts and trained in different sports to include va’a competition. The Strength and Conditioning Coach Course will help us establish and maintain a strength and conditioning program not only for wrestling, but for all sports. Our goals are to improve athletic performance, reduce athletic injuries, and teach lifelong fitness and movement skills. This course will provide aspiring coaches the skills to develop appropriate conditioning training for athletes and help meet the demands of their specific sport and develop plans and fitness tests to check progress of athletes,” Tarkong said.

“Keeping a growth mindset is important to athletes and coaches. This course would be an opportunity for that growth, to learn from and apply my roles in both capacities,” Labausa said.

OSEP master educator Joey Miranda of the GNOC is among the facilitators of the course. Other facilitators include World Rugby coaching and strength conditioning educator Lemeki Savua of Fiji, CrossFit Level 2 trainer Dr. Ryan Claros, Guam Rugby Football Union development officer Paul Claros, and registered dietitian and nutritionist Lenora Makela.

Tonight’s session of the course and the final day will be held at the GNOC office in Maite, while Days 2 and 3 will take place at the Custom Fitness in Hagatna. The course is open to national sports federations in Guam and coaches under the Guam Department of Education, while the GNOC has also extended the invitation to the Northern Marianas Sports Association and its members.

“We would like to thank the GNOC, headed by its president Ric Blas, ONOC and OSEP, for providing this important opportunity for our athletes and coaches. As the NMSA works on helping each federation develop and strengthen their sports education and administration capabilities, exposure to courses like this will help our athletes and coaches acquire technical skills and professional knowledge, which they can eventually share to their peers,” NMSA president Jerry Tan said. (PR)