Career as a Sports Coach

In today's scenario, with new age athletes emerging on national and international levels; and also with schools and colleges showing keen interest in the sports development of the country, a career in sports coach is beckoning. The success that Sachin Tendulkar achieved, has its roots in his coaching from  coach Ramakant Achrekar. Similar can be said about each and every successful player in all the streams of sports. Coaching plays an important role in the success of each of these sports individuals. It is the mentors who work behind the scene to nurture raw talent and make them successful players, we come upon praising so much. A sports coach is a person who shapes a raw athlete to a true professional. Though, there are many who can play the role of a tutor, but very few stand out to wear the cap of a coach who has the capability and vision to eye the talent from the crowd who could make it big.

Sources: Google images

Role of a Sports Coach

The role of a sports coach is to direct, train and instruct a player or a team. A sports coach helps a team by providing them assistance in means of counseling, instructions and improvisations to achieve successful levels of performance which they wouldn't otherwise have achieved on their own. A sports coach job description includes offering critical review or commendation on an athlete's or the whole team's performance. He or she works with players and athletes on all levels including school children who could be referred as beginners to professional players and teams. A sports coach responsibilities include a keen eye to point out the

- ability and proficiency of identifying an individual's potential

-  his strengths and his weaknesses

- the needs to work on the key areas by planning and

- implementing certain training programs to suit each individual.

A sports coaching not only includes physical training but also psychological fitness and assessment by offering maximum counselling and possible practical conditions to maximize best performance output.

Skills of a Sports Coach

To become a sports coach, one has to have an enthusiasm for his team and players. The sports coach should offer his 100% assistance for his team to help them excel in their sports. To get best performance from the team, the skill of motivation and encouragement should be used wisely whenever required by a sports coach. He should be good in his areas of expertise, though not necessary good in that particular sport (though that would definitely work as a plus point). We find many established players enter into the field of sports coaching after retirement, as their experience as a player adds up to their advantage. Even though a sports coach who is not good in a particular sport, he or she should be able to offer expert advice on all the area of that sport, which means they should possess the theoretical knowledge of that particular sport. The most important skill a sports coach should possess is the skill of reaching out to each and every member of his team. He should make it a point to communicate with each player of his team. A sports coach also needs a lot of patience and tactfulness all the time to work with young sport players and during assisting them.

Education of a Sports Coach

A sports coach can secure a Bachelors Degree in Sports Coaching after completing 10+2. He or she can also apply for Bachelor's Degree if he has secured minimum 50% marks with Physical Education as one of the main subjects for the sports coach qualification. Many universities impart Sports Education by offering degree courses based on percentage of marks. With a Bachelor's Degree, a qualified coach can apply for schools or colleges based on his qualification for the post of Sports Coach. Many private institution also offer Diploma courses in sports coaching which a graduate in other subjects can opt for, if he or she wishes to pursue sports coaching as a career.

Scope for a Sports Coach

A sports coach has loads of opportunities for coaching practices in schools, colleges, sports team, health clubs and sports team. Various private sector as well as public health sector may provide job opportunities for sports coach.  Once good results are achieved  a sports coach is very well recognized and wonderful job opportunities land on his door steps from national as well as international teams. A sports coach salary may just start to grow on the graph, as soon as he or she starts giving positive results. Once a sports coach gains recognition he can organize training camps or open his own training institute. A person with no physical education degree should not lose hope. If he or she still wishes to pursue a career as a sports coach, then starting as a volunteer coach is his or her stepping stone. Though a long mile to go, but it is a start in the career. Being a volunteer coach helps one start from a ground level by learning various aspects of sports training. Slowly and steadily a volunteer coach may get promoted to an assistant coach and in future end up being a sports coach. 

What is Indium

Sources: Google images

Indium is one of the softest metal that looks silvery white and has a bright lustre. It was discovered in 1863 by two German Chemists, Ferdinand Reich and Hieronymus Theodor Richter. The metal got it's name because of the indigo blue colour in its atomic spectrum. There is enough abundance of Indium just as much as sliver but it's accessibility is much easier than silver. It is easily found along with zinc, iron, lead and copper ores. One of the most interesting properties of Indium is that it doesn't react with water. It has a very low melting point and low boiling point. And just because of this property Indium is ideal for soldering. It offers easy working conditions at low temperature. Indium has one more unique property, it makes a sound or a 'tin cry', when it is bent which resembles a low scream.

Uses of Indium

As Indium is known to access even distribution of lubricating oil, it is used to coat the bearings of high speed motors. Indium is used to make various electrical items such as rectifiers and photo conductors. Being as reflective as silver, Indium can be used to make mirrors. Because of it's use in production of LCD monitors, televisions and display screens, there has been a great demand for Indium in the recent times. 

What is Polar Vortex

Sources: Google images

Polar Vortex, recently known to grip a larger part of United States,is a system of dense air which produces low temperature and an envelope of freezing weather which would bring a complete halt to the portion of earth it envelopes and thus a state of chaos to the rest.

A polar vortex, also referred as polar cyclone is a large scale cyclone that locates near the geographical poles. Thus on earth, Polar vortices can be found located near the upper troposphere, middle troposphere and stratosphere. The polar vortex surrounds the polar highs and lies in the wake of polar fronts. The winters strengthen these cold core areas whereas the summers waken them due to the temperature differential between the equator and poles. The polar vortices traverse in counter clockwise fashion in the northern hemisphere less than 1000 km.

The polar vortex is considered to be dangerous because the envelope of freezing, dense air can cause serious health risk, may even be sometimes life threatening by causing damage including liver disease, leukemia etc. Physical labor in such conditions can also be dangerous as extreme cold conditions can make it impossible to sweat and effectively insulate heat. People can die by freezing to death, car crashes on icy roads or due to risk of carbon monoxide poisoning. 

Career as a Nutritionist

A career as a nutritionist has become an attractive and lucrative career option, thanks to the keywords 'being fit', 'staying healthy' and 'eating healthy' being a rave of the current scenario. A nutritionist is a person who advises us on what to eat and what not to eat, pertaining to the food and nutrition aspects  and impact on our health. Some of us, who are on the edge of choosing careers always wonder is nutrition and dietitians a good career? Well the answer is yes, given to the tremendous growth and demand for the nutritionist and dietitian. Salary of nutritionists in India and abroad is quite promising too.  Always remember that the career in nutrition and the career in dietitian are two different careers. There is a very thin line between a nutritionist and a dietitian. A nutritionist is related to the areas of food sciences and food research projects whereas a dietitian is focused on planning a perfect diet depending on a individual and his lifestyle. A dietitian also monitors the diet plan of an individual and tailors it as per an individual's needs. Though nutritionist and dietitian are two different fields yet there are times when one may switch on to the other's role for the time being.

Sources: Google images

Role of a Nutritionist

A nutritionist plays a key role when it comes to prescribing counteractive food practices which relate to several aspects of each and every individual and his quality of life. Due to the changing food trends pertaining to urban population and food culture, the quality of life is vastly affected; thanks to the fast food emerging out as a culprit. A nutritionist tries to improve our quality of life in today's fast world by educating and introducing us to various food items; that can be easily incorporated in our daily diet, as per the ethics and rules of nutrition. A nutritionist has the basic knowledge about the manufacturing and processing of food, it's nutritional aspects and also the psychological factors that influences the food preferences. With the increase in population and the current demand in healthy lifestyle and food practices, the role of nutritionist is definitely on a big demand.

Four Basic Areas of Specialization for Nutritionist

Clinical Nutritionist

A clinical nutritionist deals mainly with personalized diet plan of an individual with relation to his/her lifestyle diseases such as obesity, osteoporosis, heart diseases etc. Few main factors that lead to such diseases include eating habits, sedentary lifestyle and unhealthy food practices. These are the key areas where a clinical nutritionist plays his role. A clinical nutritionist designs an unique personalized diet plan with respect to the ailment her patient is suffering with.

Public Health Nutritionist

A Public Health Nutritionist focuses on the improvement of public health in general. The key area of Public Health Nutritionist is not a specific individual but public as a whole. They work on the improvement of masses by focusing on issues such as malnutrition in children and come out with successful strategies and health plan. They also work on eradicating food related problems for the whole community or vulnerable groups. A Public Health Nutritionist also works on problems pertaining to adults such as food poisoning due to adulteration, kidney failure and fibrosis.

Sports Nutritionist

A sports nutritionist focuses on the food and diet intake of an athlete. their main area of focus relates to the type and quality of food intake with respect to the proper proportion of nutrients, fats and calories. A diet plan of an athlete or sportsman is entirely different from us. The role of a nutritionist plays vital in lifestyle and food habits of sportsman especially with athletes related to strength sports such as weightlifting, body building and other sports such as running, cycling, swimming etc.

Research Nutritionist

Research Nutritionist are food technicians who research on nutritive value of food which allows to understand the right type of food one should eat and a plan for balanced diet which includes the right amount of components including vitamins, minerals etc which are essentially needed for the body. A research nutritionist also works on key areas which are related to food preservation and food safety.

Eligibility of Being a Nutritionist

One can get a degree in Nutrition after finishing 10 + 2 with science by specializing in subjects like biology and chemistry. Other than that one can also admit to Home Science for a graduation degree for becoming a nutritionist. To start a private practice as a nutritionist, one has to get a 'Registered Dietitian Exam Certificate'. This course is offered in many Foreign Universities. But you have to score well in TOFFEL and GRE whichever is applicable. It is necessary to take the specific set of courses which are drawn by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, which can be completed on graduate or even an under-graduate level.

Scope for a Nutritionist

A nutritionist has a great scope when it comes to career opportunities as nutrition career lists is pretty amazing. One can work with government hospitals, school, colleges and government health department. Few nutritionists also work as Public Health Nutritionists for NGO's. Other than that a nutritionist can work for sports clubs, health clubs, gyms etc. A nutritionist can also work in catering department, restaurants, in-flight kitchens etc. If a nutritionist opts for a research career, then they get to work for research institutes, food product manufacturing companies and various other food labs. Teaching the Science of Nutrition is also a career option for the nutritionists if he/she passes the NETT examination. Other than that becoming a private practitioner is also a lucrative career. 

Rock Painting - Most Creative Activity for Kids

Painting on stones or stone painting or also called as rock painting can be one of the most creative activity ever. Stones and rocks come in different size and shapes and we get to explore our minds into how creative we can be with them and come up with unique stone painting designs. Rock Painting allows us the pleasure to be creative and also to decorate our homes in a personalized manner. A painted stone could be used as a corner piece or we can use them for decorating gardens. Painted stones can also be gifted to near and dear ones, thus it could be a perfect personalized gift item for special occasion. Wonder how proud a grand-mom would feel if she receives a rock painting as a gift, painted and decorated by her own grand-child. You could also gift it to dad or moms who may use them as paperweights in their office and always feel proud when they look at them. Thus rock painting is one of the most easy and interesting DIY projects for kids. The actual pleasure for the kids begins right from searching for the perfect stone to painting it with the selected design.

Though you could get these stones  or rocks nowadays at various home-decor stores; the fun is in finding the perfect stone while you visit a river side or a sea shore. Most important thing for stone painting is to find the perfect stone, which can be used to paint. Tip is to look for round, flat and smooth stone which can allow us to be more creative. When certain idea comes to our mind for stone painting art, we need to look out for stones which may help us shape and colour those ideas, for instance if you wish to stone paint a cat, then you need to look out for a stone which can help you shape up that idea or when we wish to make a  Ladybug Rock Painting then we use a flat and circular stone.  I am into habit of collecting stones whenever I visit a river or a beach. You could say it is one of my hobbies other then reading. I am amazed with the different shapes and sizes the stones come in, one of the nature's wonder that they are shaped the way they are. I gather stones whenever I visit outdoors, not just to be creative, but also because  I consider each of those stones as a memoir or a recollection of the journey I thoroughly enjoyed. Then I try and use these stones for getting a bit creative with stone painting. Don't worry if you find stones with little rough patches, as a little scrub with sand-paper may work on some stones for smoothening curves and edges.

How to do Rock Painting 

Once you have the perfect stone ready with you, all you need to do is come up with a design which would work out perfectly on the stone. Every stone that we select tells us what would they be designed or shaped into. Just a little imagination and you know what design and colour would go well with the shape of the stone.

One more tip about stone painting for beginners is to try to draw the design on a card paper. It is important to learn to draw the perfect shape before trying it on the stone. Draw the perfect shape on a paper sheet or a card paper and then colour it. So you know what you are getting into. Once the design is drawn and coloured on a paper, you can just copy the same on the stone. This way stone painting becomes much easier as you get a model ready to refer while finishing your art work.

When it comes to using colours on stones for stone painting, mostly all types of colours go well with them. You can easily use acrylic colours or even water colours for stone painting. If this is your first time to try stone painting, I suggest try using water colours. If the stone painting doesn't come out as you desire, you can simply wash the colours and start out again. This way children get to practice and get creative with stones  and always come up with easy rock painting ideas or designs. The stone painting activity is one of the most creative ideas for kids as they get to engage in a craft which involves colours one of the kid's favourite past time. Making simple stone painting designs can help kids be imaginative. A little help with basics and kids would themselves come with unique ideas of their own about what they should paint on the stone. Once a child gets his hands on a stone painting, he or she can try with acrylic colours. Once the child is happy with his creativity, then sealers can be used to keep his stone painting art last for longer time.

How to Make Ladybug Rock Painting

A ladybug is an easy rock painting design for kids. You can try doing it with water clours or acrylic colours as you wish. Once a child gets a general idea how to do it, he can try making it with different vibrant colours. A ladybug rock can be a perfect gift for special occasions, you can gift it to mom and dad who can use it as paper-weights for their offices or you can gift it to grand mom who can place it as a decorational piece in her living room. They can also be made for school projects or DIY projects for kids as cultivating hobby. You can also make ladybug rocks using various colours and decorate your garden by placing them side by side near pot and plants. So lets learn how to paint ladybug rock art step by step. 

Materials required for making ladybug rocks

Stone, preferably flat, small and circular - 1
Acrylic colours of your choice
Acrylic colour - black
Acrylic colour - white (optional)
Glue
Wiggly eyes - 2
Sketch pen - black colour
Sketch pens of your choice
Rough paper sheet - 1
Rough cloth

Method for making Ladybug Rocks

1

Try and use a flat and circular stone for making a ladybug rock. Once selected, first wash and dry out the rock thoroughly with a rough cloth. Set aside.

2

Draw a rough model of the ladybug on a rough paper sheet and colour it with the desired colours you wish to give by means of the sketch pens. Note that you would be using the same paper sheet as a model to paint the rock. So try and use the same colours on the paper as you would use on the rock. Here I have painted a rough sketch on the paper, which would act as my model for the session.

3

Paint the whole stone (top portion) with acrylic black colour. Allow it to dry thoroughly. You may need to add one or two coats of paint to get the proper smoothness and texture. It totally depends on the rock.

4

Now simply paint 3/4th portion of the rock with the other colour of your choice. You can select any colours other than red, such as yellow, blue, green or orange. Leave topmost portion of the rock black, assuming it is the head. There is no exact measurement of how much you should paint, just look at your model drawn on the paper and accordingly colour the rock.

5

Draw small circles with help of black sketch-pen on the body of the rock. Fill it with black colour. There is no exact numbers of how many circles you should draw, you can draw many circles if they are small dots, and if you wish to draw big circles then keep them very few. 

6

Once you are finished with the body, lets get the eyes in place. With the help of glue you can paste the wiggly eyes on the top of the head. If you do not find eyes, then no worries, just draw circles with white colour using a pointed brush.

Allow the colours and eyes to dry out. Your ladybug rock art is ready. To help the colour last longer, use a sealer. 

What is Palladium?

Sources: Google images

A steel white in colour and ductile in nature, palladium is a tarnish-resistant metal which has a melting point of 1554 degrees C. It was discovered by William Hyde Wollastan in the year 1803 in England. The metal was named after the asteroid 'Pallas' which had been discovered at the same time as the metal. Also it gets it's name from the Greek god 'Pallas' which means Goddess of Wisdom. Palladium is denoted with the symbol Pd and has the atomic number 46. Though Palladium highly resembles Platinum, it is least dense an has the lowest melting point. 

What is Palladium Used For

Palladium is largely used in the jewelry industry for making jewelry. It is also used in dentistry in small amounts for making of dental amalgams which help decrease corrosion. Palladium also is used in making surgical instruments, electrical contacts, blood sugar strips, spark plugs of aircraft, watches and in automobile catalytic converters. The soft metal Palladium also plays a key role in the technology used for fuel cells which is used to combine hydrogen and oxygen to generate electricity, heat and water. Palladium costs USD907.80 Per Troy Ounce (approximately 31 gm).