New Delhi, Dec 29 (PTI) The second edition of the Hockey India (HI) Coaching Education Pathway will be conducted in February-March next year, the national federation said on Sunday.

The program, which is an integral part of the International Hockey Federation (FIH) Academy, will see Level 'Basic' and Level '1' coaching courses being conducted across four zones -- south, west, north and east in February 2020, while the HI Level '2' Coaching Course will take place in March.

A simplified education structure, the HI Coaching Education Pathway, consists of a combination of web-based modules and face-to-face interactive courses, underpinned by a competency based assessment process, which helps the Coaches in progressing to higher levels.

The Pathway is divided into seven levels: HI Level 'Basic', Hockey India Level '1', Hockey India Level '2', FIH Level 1, FIH Level 2, FIH Level 3 and FIH High Performance.

Once a candidate progresses from the HI Levels, they are then eligible to enrol for the FIH Academy Level 1 Course, and so on.

In its initial year, this initiative from HI attracted overwhelming response from across the country with over 300 candidates applying for each March 2019 and August 2019 phases of the program.

The first-ever HI Coaching Education Pathway was launched in March 2019, designed with the aim to provide a simplified education structure to help in developing coaches from the grassroots level into world-class coaches.

With hundreds of candidates having enrolled for the Pathway in 2019, the meticulously-designed program provided certification to candidates including young upcoming hockey coaches, who wish to pursue coaching as a career along with NIS-qualified coaches, and former international players, who have represented India at the highest level in the past.

The 'Basic' and Level '1' coaching course for the South Zone will take place in Kollam, Kerala from February 11 to 13, for the West Zone in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh from February 15 to 17, for the North Zone in New Delhi from February 19 to 21 and for the East Zone in Ranchi, Jharkhand from February 23 to 25, HI said in a statement.

After the completion of the HI 'Basic' and Level '1' Courses across the four zones, Hockey India Level '2' Coaching Course will be held in New Delhi from March 27 to 30, which will be conducted for candidates who have successfully cleared the initial two courses.

"After a very successful introduction of the HI Coaching Education Pathway in 2019, we are pleased to be conduct the program again in 2020 to provide a well-designed platform to young coaches from across the country," HI President Mohd Mushtaque Ahmad said.

"We are very committed to developing the sport from the grassroots level, and through the HI Coaching Education Pathway, we want to ensure that these courses are helping in the progression of grassroots coaches into high performance/international level coaches." PTI

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