Coach Sara is from Seattle, USA and has been living in Beijing for the past two years.
What organization or company do you work for?
What do you coach?
Outdoor Survival Skills
How long have you been coaching?
5 years, first in USA, then Beijing.
What made you become interested in coaching?
I love working with children and teaching them valuable skills, which can be utilized their entire life. It makes me so happy to watch children experiencing the great outdoors and getting the chance to run around.
What coaching qualifications do you have?
In the YMCA, I studied forestry skills and survival skills for several years. With Imagine. we have created a coaching system for survival camps, drawing on knowledge from various resources and combining instructors’ ideas and experience.
What was your favorite sport to play when you were a student?
When I was a student, I loved to practice martial arts – I didn’t do anything else! As a kid, I spent a lot of time playing in the woods, which is where I got my love of the outdoors.
How would you describe your coaching style?
I believe that all children should learn by trying things out! I try to encourage them to do things they wouldn’t normally do. They learn to trust themselves and be confident when met with a positive go get ‘em attitude.
What do you find most rewarding about coaching?
Seeing children learn skills they might not learn in a classroom, and then apply them, while having a great time is extremely rewarding. Teaching children something interesting and useful is what I try to do every day. When the kids are excited about their new skill, their faces light up and that makes me light up, too.
And most challenging…?
Sometimes it is difficult to inspire confidence. There is nothing worse than self-doubt, it keeps you down. I try as hard as I can to get everyone to try something, even if it’s really challenging.
To contact Sara; 5739 4933, sara@imagine-china.com www.imagine-china.com
beijingkids Shunyi Correspondent Sally Wilson moved to Beijing in 2010 from the UK with her husband and son. Her daughter was born here in 2011 and both her kids keep her happily busy. In her spare time, Sally loves to stroll through Beijing’s hutongs and parks. She is a (most of the time) keen runner and loves reading: books, magazines, news, and celeb websites – anything really. Sally is also a bit of a foodie and loves trying out new restaurants.
Photos: Courtesy of Imagine.
