Negrense athletes very coachable, visiting US coaches say

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http://www.sunstar.com.ph/static/bac/20 ... s.say.html

Negrense athletes very coachable, visiting US coaches say
By Henry C. Villalva


"NEGROS athletes are very coachable," thus said American athletics coach Nick Vogt, head of the Christian Team Ministries, group of visiting US missionary athletes who just finished spending two weeks sharing their expertise in track and field to young and promising athletes in selected areas of the province.

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Vogt, who has been coming to Negros Occidental every year bringing with him a group of committed Christian athletes and coaches as well as basketball and football players in the past, told Sun.Star one reason why they like coming back to Negros is "because the Negrenses are very coachable. They are easy to teach because they are very eager to learn the technical aspects of sports."

He said he finds this trait to be a necessary ingredient that will help catapult these young athletes to success in their chosen field of sports.

This year's batch of US athletes and coaches was composed of Kevin Hills, pole vaulter from William Jessup University; Aaron Jenkins, distance runner from Pocatello, Idaho; Daniel Harry, distance runner from Idaho State university; Alex Kleefeld, pole vaulter from American River College; Todd Nunan, distance runner from Idaho State University; and Jim King, 100-mile champion runner from Grass Valley, California.

The group started their stay in the province by running as a guest team during the final lap of the 2006 Negros Relay Marathon from escalante City to Bacolod City last June 23. They also conducted pole vault clinics in Escalante City and Kabankalan City last week.

Pastor Renati Bravo, the Philippines coordinator of Christian Team Ministries said the visiting Americans not only shared their athletics expertise to the young people they met but also shared their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Aside from ministering to the spiritual needs of the people they met during their stay the US athletes and coaches also donated sports equipment to selected recipients.(HCV)