Coach Young Athletes

Athletics

Coach athletics to children in Ghana and give aspiring athletes the opportunity to train and develop in the sport they are so passionate about. Coaching athletics in Ghana is a fantastic way to experience Africa while sharing your love for athletics with others.

There are very limited opportunities for children in Ghana to develop in athletics. The schools receive little funding for sports activities and the local clubs that do exist tend to struggle for decent equipment and dedicated staff. This is why you can make a huge impact as a volunteer athletics coach. You do not need recognised qualifications, just some experience in your chosen event(s) and a willingness to organize athletics training for young, enthusiastic athletes.

 Athletics Volunteer Placement
Our athletics coaching placements are based in and around Kumasi.  As a volunteer athletics coach, you will be assigned to one of the athletics clubs or schools in the local community. The athletes are aged between 7 -16 and vary in talent and experience. You will, however, be surprised by the levels of speed, strength and stamina many of the children possess. Your young athletes will train hard, dreaming of being the next athlete to represent Ghana at the Olympic Games or World Championships.

However, coaching athletics in Ghana is not all about rigorous training. Your main goal is to simply allow more youngsters to train in a fun and structured environment, giving them the chance to belong to a team, enjoy sport and develop in the athletics events they are so passionate about. The events you can choose to coach are listed below.

•  Long Jump
•  High Jump
•  Triple Jump
•  Shot Put
•  Javelin
•  Discus
•  100m
•  200m
•  400m
•  800m
•  1500m
•  3000m
•  4 x 100m Relay
•  Marathon

We welcome athletics volunteers with varied levels of coaching experience. We just ask that you have trained or competed on a regular basis and have a good understanding of the athletics events you wish to coach.

Volunteers will help local coaches run training sessions from 6am to 8am for young athletes in the community as well as the school.

Evening Training sessions, starts from 2 pm to 5pm

This may sound daunting, but you will soon realise that you possess an understanding of athletics that the young players are eager to have. The rewards are great because the raw talent is often there but the experience of a structured training environment is lacking. Through strength and conditioning work, group fitness sessions, and of course, dedicated athletics training in particular disciplines, your athletes will develop rapidly. Furthermore, you will not be left alone. You will work alongside our in-country team and our other volunteer sports coaches.

Volunteers can also assist in teaching children various skills such as fitness training. In some instances, sports coaching involves teaching children about healthy lifestyle awareness and team building.

Volunteers will have 1-3 periods of sports education per day, and outside of this will assist teaching in the classroom. This can of course vary depending on the activities planned for the day, and the volunteer’s creativity and initiative to conduct their own physical education lessons with the children.

Weekends, are free days to volunteers. You may choose to travel out of town to see the many interesting sights and sounds in other parts of Ghana or hang out with your fellow volunteer(s) and/or locals in the neighbourhood.

Weekend trips available include visits to Mole National Park in the Northern Region of Ghana. This National Park offers a great Safari-like experience and is one of the biggest Elephant Sanctuaries in Africa with the chance to spot Lions, Leopards & Antelopes in their natural habitat.
Volunteers can also take a trip to Cape Coast in the Central Region of Ghana to relax in the beautiful beaches and see the famous Cape Coast castle, the Kakum Canopy walkway and Elmina castle, where slave trade begun.