Veteran weightlifting coach provides training
CAMBODIA Weightlifting Federation (CWF) president Vath Chamroeun considers the Olympic Solidarity coaching course on weightlifting at the national level a golden opportunity to work together for success at the 32nd Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in 2023, which the Kingdom will host.
During the opening ceremony at the National Olympic Committee of Cambodia (NOCC) on December 13, Chamroeun – who is also secretary-general of the SEA Games Organising Committee (CAMSOC) – urged all trainees to pay close attention to gain new knowledge and skills from instructor Minieash Pandoo of the International Weightlifting Federation because weightlifting is an Olympic sport that has clear and strict competition rules.
“This training is a golden opportunity to work together to make the 32nd SEA Games in 2023 a success in weightlifting. The success of the SEA Games depends on the contributions of the technical staff of the federations in helping to organise the competitions successfully,” he said.
At the same time, Chamroeun claimed that this type of weightlifting is easier for athletes to train in because it is a solo sport and they can achieve excellence independently, unlike some team sports such as football and volleyball, in which the countries in
ASEAN and Asia still cannot beat the top teams in Europe or the US easily.
“Weightlifters from Asia and Southeast Asia have won many Olympic medals because this sport requires equal weight to compete, so we have a lot of opportunities at our event, especially for female athletes. If we have good athletes who can compete in female weightlifting, we have a lot of chances to win medals, just like in Thailand as they have had many Olympic gold medallists since 2000,” he said.
However, in order to help athletes achieve these successes, he said the coaches must be creative in using their knowledge and skills gained from study, but these skills must be in accordance with the rules and regulations of the international weightlifting competition.
In addition, coaches must be clear about how to lift and maintain position as well as how to use breathing movements and how to use emotion to inspire athletes to practise and train to get good results.
“Our coaching trainees need to be creative and absorb new things from the trainer to exchange ideas and improve skills in accordance with the techniques and be able to agree as a whole. So we as a weightlifting family need to know all the same skills, speak the same technical weightlifting language and use it effectively. If we practise well, we will get good results in our studies,” he said.
Sam Sokyi, secretary-general of the CWF, said the weightlifting coaching course is running for five days from December 13-17 with a total of 25 trainees, including four women.
“This workshop is aimed at contributing to the technical adjustment of weightlifting skills and strengthening personal skills to become a qualified coach with knowledge and understanding of the management of associations, clubs and institutions in cities and provinces, especially the preparation of short, medium and long-term training plans to prepare for the 2023 SEA Games,” he said.
Pandoo, an international weightlifting official with 26 years of coaching experience, said he was enjoying his time in the Kingdom and had words of encouragement for Cambodia’s coaches and athletes.
“This is my first visit to Cambodia, but not the first time to the ASEAN region, because I have been coaching weightlifting in Indonesia for nine years and I’ve also coached in Malaysia and Thailand. I have a lot of knowledge about the skills required and I will try my best to provide this knowledge and the benefit of my experiences to the Cambodian trainees,” Pandoo said.*