A new generation of coaches in Asia have moved on to the next stage of development, with 22 coaching candidates from five different countries taking part in the five-day ITU Level 2 Competitive Coaching Course in Chiba, Japan.
The participants came from Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong, Macau and Chinese Taipei and most are current national team coaches; coaching elite, U23, and junior athletes.
The Level 2 competitive coaches’ education course is an applied course that integrates sport sciences with triathlon specific preparation, planning and evaluation of the competitive Junior and U23 athletes. It provided these national team coaches with a great opportunity to learn about training theories, as well as new skills and drills.
ATSC Sport Development Co-ordinator Ki Woo Kyung said that the three ITU facilitators and coaches, Luc Morin from Canada, Sergio Santos from Portugal, and Miguel Jordan from Portugal, helped encourage teamwork in the group.
“The three experts have conducted each session very professionally by giving group works to make Asian coaches work together as a team. Every participant looks happy to enjoy the every session in cooperative mood,” he said.
Yamane Hedeki, Japanese National Team Head Coach, expressed his thanks.
“I would like to thank ITU and ASTC for providing this wonderful opportunities to learn about new coaching approaches and think about what we have been coaching our athletes.”
Steven Chan, Singapore Coaching Committee Advisor, said it was an important step in further improving Asia’s results on the world stage.
“This is a great course and it was a great honour to be part of the course with some of the best coaches in Asia. We also gained a lot of insight to how we can improve our training plans for our athletes from the very experienced presenters who are coaching the top triathlon team in the world. I feel that such courses in Asia are very important to bring up the standard of coaches here and hopefully with that, it can also bring up the standard of our athletes.”
According to Libby Burrell, Director of ITU Development, the ongoing education of coaches is the cornerstone of development on all levels. The ITU coach education courses, with the accent on the applied coaching, has resulted in the steady improvement of athlete performances around the globe. For this reason coach education will always play a key role in the work being done by the ITU Development Department.
“We are very lucky to have so many expert coaches willing to work with our department to share their knowledge and experience and that is what makes the work we do so successful,” Burrell said.
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