Students have no role model in basketball

KOCHI: For students who attended the two-day camp at Global Public School, the experience was different. They had fun interacting with American basketball coach Brian Mccormick. He played basketball with students interested in the game. Being a professional coach he made sure the students focused on the entire body movements and techniques of the game rather than focusing only on improving their skill in the game.Brian, who also spent some time with the students of Trivandrum International School, Thiruvananthapuram, is on a short visit to India. Leap Start, an educational institution based in Bangalore that focuses on giving children a boost in physical education, brought him here. Presently, Brian is busy training students in Bangalore.“The most important thing  students here need is  the exposure to the game by an expert coach,” he said.Students in India may have the potential but they don’t have the opportunities to train at a higher level. It would be difficult to focus on both studies as well as sports. But students in the west have more opportunities and encouragement to focus on the game. They concentrate more on the game.An American teenager trains about two hours every day, five days a week. They have access to the latest movements and techniques through the net. “When I was a kid, the first time I saw a football match was when I entered High School. Students here don’t have a role model in basketball like a Sachin or Dhoni in cricket,” he said.This Special Education Trainer who arrived in India believes in helping boost students’ energy and fitness levels besides focusing on the techniques of the game.Brian was coaching a team of immigrant students in Sweden when the Bosnian conflict was at its peak in the 1990s. And later went on to train students for special Olympics.And the reason why the lanky American gave training for those students who arrived from the Syrian, Chinese and Polish nations whom nobody else wanted to coach, was because the task was challenging. “I began my career there. And besides, I always knew that I wanted to  coach basketball players.”Brian Mcormick who spent his college years at the Swedish country is presently an instructor in the Department of Exercise and Sports Science coaching students for special Olympics in the US.Others think him to be an innovative coach because he has always believed in bringing a different perspective in learning the game. “    It’s not because I bring new techniques to the sport but I have always believed in incorporating the rules and techniques of other games especially soccer whenever I teach my students basketball, something which maybe other coaches do not do.This American who has travelled across Canada, China, Greece, Macedonia, Morocco, South Africa, Trinidad and Tobaggo aims to train students who can thrive in any setting.“Basketball wasn’t very popular in China but when Yao Ming,  joined the National Basketball Association, every Chinese child wanted to be Yao Ming.” But for the coach himself, the NBA has never  been a dream. My dream is to turn students into professionals.”