THE FIRST VIRTUAL TRAINING COURSE BY PANAM SPORTS BEGINS WITH MORE THAN 400 COACHES THROUGHOUT THE AMERICAS

America is the continent most affected by the Covid-19 pandemic so far, with the highest numbers of infected and deceased in the world. It is a situation that causes concern and uncertainty for all people throughout the continent.

Panam Sports is aware of how difficult it has been for National Olympic Committees, athletes and coaches during these months of confinement, and the impact on them has remained Panam Sports’ top concern since the virus arrived. Communication with member countries never stopped, financial contributions continued with the different aid programs and a series of expert discussions on the Panam Sports Channel continue to be organized in order to help the Pan American family cope with these difficult times. Now, we are proud to begin the First Virtual Training Course for coaches.

Panam Sports presents the "Course in Sports Psychology for High Performance Coaches" taught by the outstanding psychologist Jose Maria Buceta. Buceta is an experienced professional who has served as Spain’s Women's National Basketball Coach at the Barcelona 1992 Olympic Games, as a psychologist for the Spanish Women's Olympic Hockey team in Atlanta 1996 and as a psychologist for the Mexican Olympic team in Sydney 2000, the international basketball referees at Rio 2016 and the Real Madrid sports club.

The response from America's coaches was surprising and exceeded all expectations. More than 400 professionals from 40 countries registered for the course that begins today and ends on Wednesday, July 29. The weekly class will consist of a total of 16 hours, and the topics of discussion will be: Psychological variables that influence high performance; Global approach and level of activation; Motivation, stress and self-confidence; Psychology to optimize the leadership of the coach; and Psychology of high-performance coaches — self-control of motivation and emotions.

"We have organized this Course with the main objective of helping our coaches. We know how difficult these months of confinement have been for them. Most have had to train their athletes via video calls, and they play a fundamental role of contention, companionship and motivation in athletes. For this reason, our first course is related to Psychology, understanding how to handle these difficult moments and how to prepare in the best way for the post-pandemic," said Panam Sports President, Neven Ilic.

Faced with the large number of registrations, the highest sport authority in the Americas was emphatic in pointing out that "we are happy for the excellent response we have received from the coaches of our continent. We have the presence of professionals from 40 out of 41 of our member nations, which demonstrates their great interest in training with us," said the President of Panam Sports, Neven Ilic.

For coaches who could not register for the course, the Panam Sports Channel will upload the presentations of Jose Maria Buceta with English subtitles one week after the live sessions.