Braam is working to develop a passion for hockey in young players
At the beginning of the year Braam Nel received the opportunity he was looking for to help develop the sport that he plays and would like to see grow.
POLOKWANE – He is assisting in the coaching of hockey youngsters at the Polokwane Action Sport Center.
He says even though it is action hockey, it teaches children the same skills they would need to play field hockey. “It is important to teach children the basics, like holding the hockey stick and then following to the more advanced skills until they actually play hockey,” he says.
He works with children between the ages of four and five up to 13 years old.
He says that one of the challenges he deals with when it comes to the very young children, is to get them to concentrate and learn how to hold the stick and then use it.
Braam himself started playing the game when he started high school at Hoërskool Pietersburg (PHS) and from there his passion just grew. He says from the start he was fascinated with the game, remembering that he had to play with a wooden stick, which was not fun at all. In his last two years at school he received his Limpopo colours and played for the first team. After school he played for the university team. When he returned to Polokwane, he started training young players while he completed his studies to become a teacher.
He still plays hockey to keep not only fit, but to keep up to date with the rules of the game. He describes himself as a person who is calm and friendly. “I motivate children by just telling them to try again. it is very rewarding to see the young players getting the hang of the skills and their passion growing for the sport, just like mine did. I would like to see the young players I work with play in the first teams at their schools and even for the province,” he says.
He adds that people underestimate the impact that hockey has and how it has grown. ‘When I was at school just a few years ago, PHS build the first astro hockey field and now there are several astro turf hockey fields in and around the city and province, and it is something that is not cheap to do, so there must be a growing need for people to invest so much money,” he adds.
