2:53 p.m., Sept. 14, 2009----The University of Delaware is working in cooperation with the U.S. Olympic Committee and the International Olympic Committee's Olympic Solidarity department to offer the second edition of the International Coaching Enrichment Certification Program (ICECP).

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Through the program, 27 national coaches representing all five continents, different countries and 13 sports were welcomed to the UD campus on Monday, Sept. 14.

“As part of our commitment to international outreach and following the success of the first edition of the ICECP, the U.S. Olympic Committee is excited to partner again with Olympic Solidarity and the University of Delaware to offer coaches from around the globe a world-class coaching education program aimed at developing proficiency in the technical, theoretical, conceptual, managerial and ethical aspects of coaching at all levels of competition,” said Robert Fasulo, chief of international relations for the USOC.

The program consists of lectures, guest speakers, participant presentations, group work and field trips. In addition, each coach will undergo an apprenticeship with a U.S. national team or college team as well as develop a project aimed at improving their national coaching infrastructure with the support of an international coaching expert.

Topics include sport nutrition, sport medicine, injury management and prevention, sport psychology and physiology, sport administration and coaching methods.

The program has four modules. In the first module, participants will spend two weeks at UD and attend lectures and presentations from experts on a variety of coaching education and sports science topics.

The second module is a sport-specific apprenticeship, which allows participants to shadow, observe and interact with coaches from national governing bodies, university athletic teams or elite sport clubs in each of their respective sports.

Apprenticeship sites include Penn State University for track and field, North Baltimore Aquatic Club, home of Bob Bowman and Michael Phelps, and the U.S. Olympic Training Centers in Colorado Springs, Chula Vista and Northern Michigan University.

The third module will take place at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, and consist of a continuation of lectures and group work activities during a two-week period taught by U.S. Olympic Committee sport performance and coaching experts.

In the final module, participants will present the projects they completed over the course of the program to the ICECP Academic Board and make a public presentation about their projects at the IOC headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland.

“The University supports the high ideals of the Olympic Movement and is pleased to offer a well- structured, comprehensive and in-depth course of study,” said University of Delaware President Patrick Harker.

The program is headed at UD by Matthew Robinson, associate professor of sport management and director of the University's sport management program, and Jeff Schneider, director of strength and conditioning at the Ice Skating Science Development Center.

“We are looking to build on last year's success,” stated Robinson. “The faculty was incredible last year and we had a committed and passionate group of participants who have returned to their native countries and have made impacts at the grassroots levels all the way up to the highest levels of competition in their respective sports. We cannot be prouder of last year's group and we are excited about working with the new group.”

Both Robinson and Schneider possess a wealth of international sport management experience. Robinson worked for the U.S. Department of State in the area of sport diplomacy in 2008, while Schneider has worked with numerous national, world and Olympic-level figure skaters.

Following is a list of the countries represented by the ICECP participating coaches: American Samoa, Barbados, Chinese Taipei, Dominica, Egypt, El Salvador, Fiji, Greece, Grenada, Guam, Indonesia, Kiribati, Kyrgystan, Libya, Macedonia, Maldives, Malta, Mongolia, Netherlands Antilles, Pakistan, Peru, Puerto Rico, Serbia, Sierra Leone, Togo, Trinidad and Tobago, and Zimbabwe.

The program kicks off its educational sessions with a lecture by St. Joseph's University head men's basketball coach Phil Martelli at 10 a.m., Tuesday, Sept. 15, at the Trabant University Center.

For more information about ICECP, to see photos from the 2009 program or to read blog entries from 2009 participants, visit the program Web site.

The aim of Olympic Solidarity is to organize assistance to national Olympic committees, in particular those that have the greatest need. This assistance takes the form of programs elaborated jointly by the International Olympic Committee and the national committees, with the technical assistance of the international federations, if necessary.

The United States Olympic Committee (USOC) is recognized by the International Olympic Committee as the sole entity in the United States whose mission involves training, entering and underwriting the full expenses for the U.S. teams in the Olympic, Paralympic, Pan American and Parapan American Games.

In addition to being the steward of the U.S. Olympic Movement, the USOC is the moving force for support of sports in the United States that are on the program of the Olympic, Paralympic, Pan American and Parapan American Games.

Photos by Ambre Alexander