EHF Education Committee member and FIH Educator Norbert Nederlof travelled to Finland last weekend (22/23 April) to hold a Level 1 Coaching seminar in Helsinki.
11 Finish coaches participated in this weekend session with Norbert, which was held in the Velodrom. The weekend kicked off with a ‘get to know you’ introduction, where a big map of Finland was on show and every coach showed how far they had come to participate. A brief history of Finnish Hockey was shared with Norbert as well.
Hockey Basics
The seminar was a Level 1 Coaching, so first thing to cover: basics! Norbert began the seminar by introducing the coaches to his coaching philosophy: start them young and start with the basics. The session focused on grip, and different grip techniques and their uses.
A pitch session was followed by lunch, where the coaches were able to review some video of the pitch session they’d just had, and could discuss and analyse grip and possession. The coaches were really energised by this new way of learning and learned quite a bit about their own grip technique.
Following the video session, the coaches headed back out to the pitch where the goal was to ‘steal’ the ball from one another. Sleet made a surprise appearance, but the coaches were not deterred and once again learned by doing.
Knowledge in Action
Sunday, the coaches were ready to put their new lessons into practice. 40 kids aged 8 – 14 years old were part of a training camp, where the coaches were able to put them through drills and training sessions. Norbert was on hand to conduct evaluations and help the coaches along. All the coaches and the children, as well as the Finnish Hockey staff present were excited and willing to work hard. Norbert tells us: “This is the start of the Finnish Hockey Revolution!”.
We would like to thank Finnish Hockey for their warm welcome of Norbert and putting their best efforts into the seminar, and of course, Norbert for his commitment to hockey in Europe.
