Water Confidence Snorkelling Programme
UWH Youth Coaches Sarah Wilson and Jorgia Bayes leading a group of young snorkelers (January 2014)
These open invitation introductory sessions focus on introducing and establishing as many 8-16 year olds to the sport of snorkeling (i.e. how to use a snorkel, how to swim with fins, how to swim on the bottom of the pool and surface, and clear your snorkel, and the fun of playing the sport of Underwater Hockey). The key components include basic introductory snorkel use, mask use, finswim training, ongoing assessments of level of ability, a hands-on-stick introduction through UWH training and skills components, leading to a grading in which players are put into skill level groups for more focused training. Finally, playing teams are created of 6 mixed grades.
“I was watching the kids jumping into the pool last night and observed that their level of confidence in the water has increased out of sight in one term. They take that confidence that they believe that they can do it and integrate that confidence into other aspects of living.”
YOUTH COACHING WORKSHOPS
The Underwater Hockey Youth Coaching (UWHYC) Level 1 Course emphasises five principal components:
Basic Personal Safety - Coach and Players
Communication Skills
Underwater Hockey (UWH) Skills Sets
UWH Basic Rules
Organising Your Coaching Session
Practical Coaching Modules
The emphasis on this program is teaching valuable life skills. Teamwork, leadership, respect, empathy and communication are the key points in this module. This is not a competitive focused sports programme; it is about getting the youth involved in something that they might not otherwise choose. Underwater hockey is popular with individuals that don’t often play team sports or sports of any kind. These are the people that really respond to the opportunity, to challenge themselves in a safe supportive environment.
AFTER COMPLETION OF THE FIRST 5 COMPONENTS, YOUTH COACHES ARE GIVEN THE HANDS-ON OPPORTUNITY TO UTILISE THEIR NEW SKILL BASE BY ASSISTING IN THE SNORKELLING SKILLS SESSIONS AND INTRODUCTION TO UNDERWATER HOCKEY PROGRAMme
INTRODUCTION TO UNDERWATER HOCKEY PROGRAMme
Teamwork, leadership, respect, empathy and communication are the key points in this module. This is not a competitive focused sports programme; it is about getting the youth involved in something that they might not otherwise choose. Underwater hockey is popular with individuals that don’t often play team sports or sports of any kind. These are the people that really respond to the opportunity, to challenge themselves in a safe supportive environment.
The trust offers a comprehensive introduction to Underwater Hockey. Learning components include UWH Water skills (turning, breathing, flicking the puck), fitness training, advanced skills (positioning, attack/ defence), covering rules, regulations and pool time revue. Each team is be mentored by youth coaches overseen by the Youth Mentor.