2013 Apprenticeship Site Blog
Monday, 14 October 2013
Mr. Abbas Simi, Iran, Athletics
Hi, this morning I woke up at 6 and it was a beautiful day. I got ready and eagerly waited to go to indoor track and field at 8.30 with other friends. At 9.30 we had a meeting there with the head coach and other coaches from Penn State University. They were so nice and kind. After lunch we stayed there to watch the training from 2.30- 4.30 and came back to days inn hotel. So good luck every body and have great week.
Ms. Sirsa Dudu, Jordan Basketball
Hi all…Yesterday everyone left the university of Delaware to his or her apprenticeship sites. As for me I will do my apprenticeship here at the University of Delaware with coach Tina Martin, the head coach of the women basketball team. I am so excited to work with coach Martin and her team. We will start tomorrow at 2:00 pm till 6:00pm. I feel lonely in the hotel, I miss the group. Today I went to the Christiana Mall and I did lot of shopping, I think I need three extra bags now. I hope everyone is having a great time and I'm looking forward to meeting all my friends again in Colorado springs next week.
Mr. Hector De la Torre, Fencing, United States of America
Today was the First Day of my apprenticeship at PDX Fencing, in Portland, Oregon. The coach and the kids just came back from the North American Cup in Milwaukee with excellent results and also shared their tournament experiences with me. I'm so excited for the apprenticeship with my coach but at the same time I feel like already miss all the ICECP staff and friends I hope everybody had a nice flight and is enjoying the apprenticeship !! Go ICECP !
See you soon in Colorado Springs
Tuesday, 15 October 2013
Mr. Titus Elien, St. Lucia, Athletics
T oday is the second day of my apprenticeship, yesterday we had a very good session at UD and today we went to visit LaSalle University. Drew met us in the lobby of the hotel and we began our journey to our destination. Upon our arrival we waited a little while for the coach to arrive. While waiting Drew found a parking spot and we took in the sights. After about ten minutes we saw three coaches approaching; Mr. Thomas Peterson, Assistant Coach of Men’s and Women’s Cross Country; Sarana Hyatt, Assistant Coach of Men’s and Women’s Track And Field; and Mr. Dan Ireland, Head Coach Men’s and Women’s Cross Country and Track And Field.
After all introductions were made we had a tour of the facilities and watched a few training sessions. LaSalle University was well equipped to train and develop athletes to their full potential. The coaches were knowledgeable in their fields as we found out in the discussions we had and the questions we asked. We found out that the head coaches’ job was not an easy one as he had to balance two aspects of coaching with about eighty percent of his job being administrative and the other twenty percent coaching.
We were given very sound advice on the way forward with our individual countries and how we can make a difference.
The coaches did not hold back anything from us, sharing their training plans with us and discussing how to use the plans to develop our own plans and make our athletes better.
We will cherish this experience always and thank the coaches for being so open with us. I would recommend that the LaSalle University be one of the schools that the program utilizes in the future of the ICECP Program.
Wednesday, 16 October 2013
Mr. Cedric Finch, Swimming, South Africa
Whooh ! This couple of days really flew by. If could, I would love to slow it down.
We, the ICECP - Swimming coaches, are really very fortunate to be doing our Apprenticeship with one of the best coaches of the Modern Olympics . We observe every water and land training session and are allowed to ask questions as we go along daily. The 3 of us had a 1 hour off the pool deck session with Mr Bob Bowman yesterday. Today we had the same session with his assistant coach Eric and the physical trainer Keenan. It has been an amazing learning curve from Todd (Little kids ) swim to the very top - Elite swimming.
Ms. Susmita Islam, Taekwondo, Bangladesh
In ICECP program now we all are in our apprenticeship. Mr. Martin Oppan are and I with the coach, Mr. Patrice remark and Arlene limas at Power Kix in VA. Today we learned a lot of things about the technique of practice. Our apprenticeship site is not far from our hotel. There are lots of shopping malls and food shops here. When we finish our work we then visit all the places. Tomorrow we will start 1:00 pm. I miss my team. I hope everyone is having a great time.
Thursday, 17 October 2013
Mr. Maciu Koroitamana, Athletics, Fiji
Today was our last formal session with the Track & Field department at Penn State. Tomorrow we will be meeting with Cross Country and I’m looking forward to that as it is my discipline. We had a session with the Academic Service in the morning and we are stunned with the various support systems that are available to the athletes so they can cope with their academic and athletics career whilst at college.
We also had time with the Athletics Trainers and a tour of the various facilities that they have, and it was amazing. Our final sessions was with Coach Kelly. We were excited to learn from his experience and how he strategizes his training program as being a Multi Event coach. He is a great man to be with and is unique in his own way in his approach, compared to the others that we’ve had in the other days. It rained in the afternoon. We had a good hot dinner at the Chinese Soup restaurant with Nai. We recommend this restaurant to those who are visiting Penn State. Our team is doing well. Looking forward to seeing everybody in Colorado Springs next week. Best wishes and prayers.
Mr. Idi Lewis, Guyana, Table Tennis
We had a free morning, I didn't have to be at the center until 4pm so i took full advantage of that and let my hair down a bit so to speak lol. There was a pretty intense after school program, I watched a bit, took some notes, played a bit and interacted a bit with the coaches and members.
Saturday, 19 October 2013
Mr. Nozim Muminov, Uzebekistan, Swimming
Day by day, the program is becoming interesting. I am especially glad to be in Baltimore. I could have never even imagined that I would have an opportunity to speak with Bob Bowman and to observe his training process. Observing top world swimmers, I am amazed how many world champs were produced there. I want to thank ICECP which gave me a chance to learn more and to develop my project.
And special thanks for Bob, Jon and their staff.
