STI holds Coaching clinic

Budding STI Coaches together with Phoenix Fuel Master players 

In an effort to help STI Campuses create and strengthen their Sports Programs, the STI Head Office through the Events Management Group and Education Training and Development Group spearheaded the STI Basketball Coaching Clinic last May 30, 31, and June 1, 2016. Since sports plays a vital role in having a holistic approach in Education, the 27 training participants learned the ropes in laying down the foundation of their sports program by starting with the most popular sports in the country – Basketball.

Day 1 with Coach Eric Gonzales and Coach Julio Veloso at the STI Coaching Clinic

The Training was also a venue to upgrade the Basketball knowledge of appointed basketball coaches of our STI Luzon schools who were hired either as PE Instructor, IT Instructor, Lab Facilitator, Career Adviser and other positions that are not related to what they primarily do at STI.  The three-day Training included topics on Basic Coaching, Conditioning, Skills Development and creating a day to day practice plan for one season.  To give the trainees ample knowledge in Coaching, STI ESG got Globalport Assistant Coach Eric Gonzales to start off the training.  Coach Eric brings with him a wealth of coaching knowledge as an assistant Coach in the PBA, a Champion Coach in the PBA Developmental league and an assistant Coach of the recently crowned UAAP Season 78 Champion FEU Tamaraws. Touching on the topic of Strength and Conditioning was former Coca-Cola Tigers strength and conditioning Coach Julio Veloso. His topic dwelled on how the coaches can maximize the strength of their players and most importantly give them conditioning drills to make them ready for battle and avoid injuries.

Day 2 with my buddies Olsen Racela and Richie Ticzon

The second day focused on skills development and preparing a practice plan. Coach Eric Gonzales gave a detailed description on how he runs practices and demonstrated it on the court. After that, he also demonstrated basic defensive formations to give the trainees enough knowledge on the defensive formations needed for their games. Helping out Coach Eric were the STI College Ortigas – Cainta basketball players who also learned a thing or two on the various defensive drills ran by Coach Eric. In the afternoon two former PBA standouts conducted Offensive skills drills. Mr. Velvet Touch Richie Ticzon who is now an Assistant Coach for the Phoenix Petroleum Fuel Masters in the PBA Developmental League taught the STI College Ortigas-Cainta dribblers the basics in shooting the ball which was his specialty when he was playing. At the same time, he drew some drills that eventually came out as an offensive play. Two time PBA Mythical 5 selectee and National Team lead point guard Olsen Racela also dropped to teach some offensive sets. Before the drills, Racela talked to the coaches and players and gave an inspirational story which was about his story and life in basketball which was brought about by discipline and hard work. At the same time he shared that one of the most important things that a coach should have should be patience. After that Racela proceeded by demonstrating different kinds of ball screen offensive patterns that the trainees can use for their offensive patters.

Coach Eric sharing his thoughts on coaching

If the first two days were mostly theories and teachings, the third day saw the trainees visit two different practice sessions of two basketball teams to see how to execute properly what they have learned. First stop was the practice of the Phoenix Petroleum Fuel Masters practice – the recently crowned PBA Developmental League champions.  Coach Eric ran the dribble drive offense to perfection and then showed how to run the correct man-zone defense. All that were discussed the past two days were witnessed by the trainees in this practice session. In the afternoon, it was the practice of PBA Team Global Port Batang Pier that the trainees witnessed.  Since it’s a month and a half from the PBA opening the players led by top pick of the 2014 PBA rookie draft Stanley Pringle and the rest of the Global port team did some conditioning and shooting drills. 

Coach Richie sharing shooting techniques

The three day training covered almost all the basic ingredients in creating a sports program particularly in creating a basketball team from a neophyte squad to a powerhouse team. Also, the simulations that the Coaches saw in the two practices they attended definitely helped them visualize what is needed to mount a winning team. As the training ended, all trainees were all excited to get back to their respective schools and start their programs and hopefully we will see results in the coming months.

Helping out the Coaches were the STI College Ortigas-Cainta basketball team