Kuwait City, Kuwait. June 5, 2022: Serbian Milan Kotarac has been around the region for some time and when he was told by FIBA that he was assigned as the instructor for basketball coaches at a seminar cum training programme in Kuwait run by the Olympic Council of Asia, he felt he was at home.
Kotarac, a FIBA Level One coach instructor, who is running the basketball show at the OCA Phase Three Development Programme at the Salmiya headquarters is no stranger to the Gulf having been involved with the national teams of countries like Bahrain, Qatar, Iran and Lebanon to name a few.
“I have been a FIBA coaching instructor for the past 10 years and I have travelled to many countries in the Middle East and the Gulf. But having a programme like this, in one place, where 12 National Olympic Committees and their basketball federations are involved is unique,” said the 46-year-old Kotarac.
“Hats off to the Olympic Council of Asia for having such training programmes like this for coaches and also for referees. If you want to raise the level of sports, then you have to raise the standards of coaches.
“This is a great opportunity to learn new ideas and develop them. All these countries coming together will result in knowledge being shared and I’m very privileged to be here and to be part of the programme,” Kotarac noted.
Over the next few days, Kotarac will run theoretical classes in the morning for more than 20 coaches, both men and women from 12 NOCs in West Asia, and in the evening hold practical classes at the Sheikh Saad Al-Abdullah Al-Sabah Sports Complex, which was the basketball venue for the just-concluded Gulf Games.
“You learn more on the court than off it. It is very important that we have these practical lessons so that I can demonstrate the theory,” Kotarac added.
Lessons will include basic movement skills, how to get open for the ball, dribbling, catching and passing, shooting, offensive and defensive skills, footwork, on the ball defence and off the ball defence.
“We have a lot to do. But this is a good start and once again I must congratulate the Olympic Council of Asia for putting on this initiative,” Kotarac added.
