MEET OUR COACH - HUSSEIN FEDI
May 24, 2020
Former national champion-turned-coach Hussein Fedi has been nurturing the Kingdom’s best runners for a generation, and the JOC caught up with him to learn more.
How did you start your career as a coach after being an athlete for nine years? After I quit an Athletics, I spent 13 years away from the sport as I was working in my own pharmacy. But then I really felt that I missed the track and stadium so I decided to come back as a coach to help the young generations. I partially left my work and became a coach in 2005.
What are the courses and certificates that have helped?I took the International Coaching Certificate from the IAAF in 2006, and a Diploma in International Coaching in Hungary in 2008, as well as the National Coaching Certificate Programme (NCCP) from the Jordan Olympic Committee. I also obtained the Coaches Sport Science certificate from Egypt Academy in 2018.
Tell us about your most outstanding achievements as a coach?I was the first coach to help a Jordanian athlete qualify for the World Championships in 2010, when Ahmad Kiswani made the 110m hurdles qualifying time. I was also the first national coach help a female runner, Aliya Bushnaq, qualify to the IAAF World Youth Championships in Kenya in 2017 in the 400m.
I also became a professional coach in Al Salmyeh Club in Kuwait from 2014-2016 and set different national records for the Kuwait athletes.
What skills do you think Athletics coaches should have?Being educated, well communicated and updated with the latest techniques about the science of coaching.
What are the best achievements that you won’t forget as a coach?It was when Ahmad Kiswani qualified to the World Championship in the 110m hurdles, I cried at that moment as he was the first Jordan sprinter to qualify and it followed a very tough plan that we had created and put into place.
Tell us about the current Athletics generation in Jordan?There is a good squad for Jordan Athletics now, especially in youth and juniors, and with the right support and nurturing, we can release their potential.
What is your ambition as an Athletics coach?
I want to qualify a Jordanian for the Olympic Games. It would also be nice to win a medal at the IAAF World Athletics Championships. It is not easy, but it is not impossible.
