2011 Program News

Apprenticeship Wrap Up, Coaches Head West

A little snow on Wednesday didn’t keep all of the coaches from arriving in Colorado Springs at the Olympic Training Center Thursday evening.

As the coaches were finishing up their apprenticeships at different locations across the east coast, many learned about the snow that was falling in Colorado Springs. Many were excited with the news, having never seen or touched snow before. While most of it melted by the time the coaches arrived, they were still able to enjoy some of it.

For some of the coaches, arriving in Colorado was a huge change in weather, as the temperature was lower than 30 degrees fahrenheit. The biggest change was for the archery coaches, who arrived from the Easton Sport Center in Florida, fresh with lightly tanned skin.

The boxing and wrestling coaches have been in Colorado Springs since the beginning of the apprenticeships. The boxing coaches had the privilege to work with Eddie Weichers, head coach at the Air Force Academy. The wrestling coach spent time with USA Wrestling at the OTC, observing both freestyle and Greco-Roman practices. The fencing coaches spent their time at Penn State University, having the opportunity to officiate and judge a tournament. The judo coaches spent their time in Boston with Jimmy Pedro, one of the most successful American judo competitors. Taekwondo spent time with Remarck Sport Taekwondo in Alexandria, Virginia.

The swimming coaches started at the Northern Baltimore Aquatic Club with Bob Bowman, and then went to Germantown Academy in Pennsylvania with Richard Shoulberg, who had just returned from coaching the USA Swimming team at the Pan American Games in Mexico. The athletics coaches first went to Penn State University for a week and then went back to the University of Delaware to meet with their women’s track and field coach for a couple days. The basketball coaches were split up to different places. The one female coach went to the University of North Carolina to work with their women’s basketball team as well as the strength and conditioning coach. The other coaches first started at the University of Delaware for a couple of days before splitting up between DeSales University and Lehigh University, both in Pennsylvania. The volleyball coaches began their week with Coach Bonnie Kenny at the University of Delaware, before traveling out to Colorado Springs to meet with and learn from the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs’ volleyball team.

While the coaches all enjoyed their time at their different apprenticeship sites, they are happy to be back together. It was a great reunion for all of the coaches when they arrived, having been separated by their respective sports for the past week and a half. Hellos and hugs were shared as if the coaches have been lifelong friends. While they have only known each other for a few short weeks, they will all most likely be lifelong friends when this program is over.