TRAINING AND EQUIPPING COACHES
Training coaches
The Coach Mpilo model starts with a key advantage over other approaches: minimal training is needed because each coach understands intuitively, from lived experience, the emotions that a man experiences upon diagnosis and the psychological, social and practical barriers that he faces.
A coach’s personal experience of overcoming his own barriers and living well with HIV is the foundation on which the Coach Mpilo training is built. The four-day training then aims to equip the coach with additional knowledge and skills that will help him to be effective in his role.
Coaches are trained on a customised curriculum that draws on SETA-accredited HIV counselling and testing content, the BEST relationships model, and the GROW problem-solving model. The curriculum focuses on interpersonal communication, mentorship, establishing and maintaining trust, building coping skills, and supporting problem-solving.
Coaches are usually trained in groups of no more than 10, given the personal/intimate nature of some of the discussions, which include issues of self-esteem, disclosure, etc.
The training curriculum consists of four modules:
HIV knowledge
Skills building
Getting down to business
Conduct
Equipping coaches
The Coach Mpilo ‘Kit’
It is important for each coach to be provided with the Coach Mpilo kit, which consists of 1 cap, 1 jacket and 2 shirts. The kit conveys credibility not only with their players but also with other stakeholders in the clinic and community.
It is further recommended that the kit should be procured from one of the high-quality, top-tier athletics brands (Adidas, Nike, etc.), which provides further visual reinforcement of the coach’s status and credibility and helps to ensure that the kit remains professional in appearance over time.
Since Coach Mpilo is about trust and discretion, words (HIV, PEPFAR, etc.) and images (red ribbon, etc.) associated with HIV should not appear anywhere on his kit.
Other materials
Smartphone:
This is a coach’s primary means of communication and therefore an essential tool. The coach uses his number on all marketing materials and uses voice calls and WhatsApp to stay in touch with his players, his squad manager, clinic staff and other stakeholders.
File folder: To keep relevant materials and paperwork on order.
Player Contract: An agreement between coach and player to enter into a relationship. It is signed by every man a coach supports.
Player data log: Used as a record of each player’s clinic visits and as a scheduling tool for calls and meetings with players.
Demand creation materials: Posters, flyers, etc.
Quick reference tools: How to overcome side effects.
Contacts for clinical and social support.
