Coaches K. Gopal and Sukhdeep Kaur who are part of the camp being held in Mumbai.

Jamshedpur, June 3: Fifty coaches from across the country took part in an informative session on handling special children.

Sukhdeep Kaur and K. Gopal represented the state. The advanced training programme was held under the Special Olympics banner at St Xavier’s College, Mumbai. The programme stressed on ways of handling differently-abled children.

Speakers from Special Olympics, International, (SOI) discussed ways of developing the skills of special children and also effectively dealing with their needs and special requirements. Their safety should be top priority.

“It was a very effective learning session for all of us,” said K. Gopal, who participated as a community trainer.

M.S. John Nagrajan, resource person from SOI was the observer for the entire session.

The coaches from the state were part of discussions on badminton and athletics. Tips were given on how to become an effective coach. Also, methods of increasing the effectiveness of coaches were discussed during the session.

How drills could be performed to train special children were also demonstrated during the workshop.

“It was a great learning experience for both of them. They are now better equipped to handle urgent situations involving special children,” added Avtar Singh, the regional trainer with Special Olympics Bharat, Jharkhand Chapter.

The two coaches were eventually tested on their theoretical and practical knowledge.

While state-level trainer Sukhdeep Kaur is now in a position to train others under the supervision of seniors, K. Gopal’s skills will be re-evaluated in three months and be upgraded.