Fentanes, a Mexican by birth, had not yet arrived in Peru. It was, in fact, one of the few absences of the technical command that was presented that day in society, at the Villa Deportiva Nacional. It is known that he worked with Reynoso in Puebla between 2019 and 2020, but not much more than that.
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His position, beyond the brief explanation that Reynoso gave, is an enigma. At least for the sports reality of the country. We spoke with Jorge Obando, head of the team of methodologists at the Peruvian Sports Institute (IPD), and he told us that it is a specialty that does not exist in Peru. Those who wish to train must train abroad.
“In the IPD and in the country in general there are very few methodologists. The number is too small and the need is too great. Personally, I studied abroad. In Peru I have only been able to take short courses or workshops of a few academic hours, which are insufficient”Obando explains.
But, what exactly is a sports methodologist, beyond what can be inferred? What is his role in a work team and what can he contribute to highly competitive sport? Obando defines it like this: “He is a sports planning professional, specialized in sports methodology and applicable sciences, specifically in the sports training process in its different stages”.
For the Colombian Mauricio Garzón Camelo, PhD in physical activity and physiology from the University of Montreal, Canada, the methodologist has two main functions: to evaluate coaches and to assume responsibility for their development.
“He is someone who evaluates, not who judges. He must have the ability to generate an approach environment so that the coach feels confident and absolutely calm that he is a contribution. It is a physical approach without interrupting the training, but you must observe how the coach does his job and gives feedback to his athletes ”note.
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The work of Fentanes will be that: approach each one of the coaches of the different categories of the peruvian national team, know their methodologies, establish a joint action plan, and deliver a detailed report with the successes and aspects to be corrected. Will be Reynoso who has the last word on what should be implemented.
“What is sought is for the coach to reflect on his work. The methodologist is a mentor. A person with more experience and knowledge helps a person with less experience and knowledge. As simple as that. He accompanies, guides, invites reflection, and lets the coach take the initiative”says Mauricio Garzón.
Once the training plan has been designed, the next phase will begin, perhaps as complicated as the first: the execution and supervision of the adjustments. The continuous review of the objectives, the preparation of records of the athletes’ progress, and the planning of the competitions.
Jorge Obando, the head of the IPD methodologists, indicates that this specialty applies to all sports, and not just to soccer. “The sports methodologist is the figure of the highest technical level – methodological (theoretical) in the process of structuring and control of the athletes’ preparation system”dice.
For him, there are four advantages of having one in your work team:
- Carry out adequate planning of the entire preparation process of an athlete.
- Carries out coordination work between the multidisciplinary team and interprets their diagnoses to deliver them jointly and collegiately with the sports technical team.
- Structure in a suitable and appropriate order the means and methodological methods for each of the stages of an athlete in the sports repair process.
- Guides and fulfills in an orderly and coherent manner the strategic and pedagogical objectives for each stage of the athlete’s training.
If Ricardo Gareca’s technical command innovated with video analysts and scouts, Juan Reynoso’s will do so with a methodologist. All for the sake of the minted restructuring.