Barbadian Shakeira Waithe is now among the highest qualified Badminton World Federation coaches having recently completed her level three certificate.
A former national badminton champion, Waithe went on to fulfil her dream of being one of two highly certified coaches in the region. She described her journey as intense but rewarding.
“It is a great achievement. I started in November 2019 when I had to go to Peru for the first pilot course. This was the first for our Pan Am region. It was an intense week but it was informative,” she said.
Speaking about her journey towards accomplishing her level three certificate, Waithe told Barbados TODAY: “When I returned to Barbados (from Peru) we had the practice part where I had to do some coaching. It was actually set up in two parts with coaching and then one or two questions to answer. We had to submit that and after that, we received feedback and then it was on to the final part.
“It is January 2021 and I would have started this November 2019. It was a long journey and I guess the situation (COVID-19) we are currently faced with also prolonged it. But it is great to know that I have finally completed the certificate.”
Shakeira Waithe is now a Badminton World Federation level three certified coach.
Waithe did not envision herself being the highest qualified badminton coach in the Caribbean. But the physical education teacher is extremely proud to have accomplished such a feat.
“Honestly speaking, no. When I first started coaching it was just a matter of giving back to the sport. I used to play and then I decided I don’t want to play anymore due to various reasons.
“So, then I decided I need to give back to this sport. It is because of this sport I have achieved a lot. I then decided to go assist the little juniors in the evening. I also teach physical education and I guess it grew on me.
“Level one came and that was actually held in Barbados in 2012. So, I was like – a coaching course here! We should all do it. I did the level one and coming out of that level one, in 2015 Pan Am sent for any coach who had the level one to come and do the level two in Jamaica. I was fortunate enough to be that person,” Waithe said.
She added: “It was after the level two certification that I said this is it. This is what I want to do and here I am now with level three.”
Waithe’s resume in coaching is impeccable having coached at the 2014 Youth Commonwealth Games, also the Caribbean Regional Badminton Confederation (CAREBACO) from 2014 to 2017. The Junior Pan Am Championships from 2012, 2014, 2015 and 2017 and the 2015 Senior Pan Am Games. She also attended the 2018 World Coaches Conference in Markham, Toronto. A coaching stint also came up in 2019 for Waithe as an assistant coach at Lee’s Badminton Summer Camp also in Markham, Toronto.
Now with her sound experience, Waithe has every intention of giving back to the Barbados Badminton Association (BBA) led by president Kevin Wood.
“I do work closely with some of the coaches but I want to be more involved. I want to be able to share information. And make sure that despite they may not have the certification in hand, they would still have the knowledge.
“I have both the certification and the knowledge and would like to work with them just to share the knowledge. I’m not going to be selfish about it. Anyone that knows me knows I am not a selfish person.
“So, it is just a matter of me sharing the knowledge and getting every coach in Barbados to the level where we can work together and start to produce some very outstanding players in the country,” Waithe explained.
As the training and development coordinator for the BBA, Waithe plans to assist the local governing body with developing the sport. Whether it be coaching or administration.
She also commended local players for performing as well as they do despite limited resources.
“It is just a matter of really sitting down and looking at the structure that we have. We are not going to reinvent the wheel. But it is how we can add to this structure. How can we take this structure from how it is now and take it to the next level by just adding, rearranging it.
“For the resources that we have available to us, I mean we really have to give a lot of credit to the players. We don’t have a home. Players do put in the work but they have a lot more to offer. I guess once we have additional resources available to us, then we would start to see the spike in our athlete’s ability,” Waithe said.
morissalindsay@barbadostoday.bb
