Training international coaches
Eighth edition of International Coaching Enrichment Certification Program launched
12:39 p.m., Oct. 2, 2015--The United States Olympic Committee, the University of Delaware and the International Olympic Committee are partners for the eighth edition of the International Coaching Enrichment Certification Program, featuring coaches representing five continents, 34 countries and 14 sports.
The 2015-16 program began Sept. 21 and will be conducted in four modules from September-May at the University of Delaware; the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado; apprenticeship sites around the U.S.; and the IOC headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland.
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The ICECP is conducted in partnership with Olympic Solidarity, an IOC program that provides financial assistance to National Olympic Committees around the world. Thus far, the ICECP has reached 198 participants from 23 sports and 87 countries over the seven-year history of the program.
“We’re honored to be part of this global program that helps foster positive and enriching environments for athletes through quality coaching,” said USOC CEO Scott Blackmun. “We are encouraged by the ICECP’s impact thus far, and are confident the program will continue to promote global sport development for years to come.”
The program consists of lectures, guest speakers, participant presentations, group work and field trips. Topics include sport nutrition, sport medicine, injury management and prevention, sport psychology and physiology, sport administration and coaching methods.
Represented in the eighth edition of the ICECP are: Afghanistan, Antigua and Barbuda, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Cameroon, Chinese Taipei, Cuba, Fiji, Guatemala, Hong Kong, China, Kenya, Latvia, Lesotho, Macedonia, Malaysia, Marshall Islands, Mexico, Namibia, Oman, Pakistan, Palestine, Philippines, São Tomé and Principe, Serbia, Sri Lanka, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, Turkmenistan, Tuvalu, Uganda, United States, Uzbekistan and Zambia.
The keynote speaker at the ICECP opening ceremony on Sept. 21 was Arlene Limas, who became the first American – and first female – to win a gold medal in taekwondo at the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul. Limas is now the owner of Power Kix Martial Arts School and an assistant coach for USA Taekwondo.
“The rewards I felt as an athlete were great, but they were small compared to the rewards I feel as a coach,” said Limas. “It’s at a different level that transcends personal achievement.”
Limas emphasized how important it is for coaches to encourage their athletes to take more of a leadership position and to teach and learn from one another, stating, “As soon as I started coaching, it made me a better athlete.”
UD men’s basketball coach Monte Ross welcomed the coaches to the University and challenged them to make a difference in the world through sport.
Also speaking at the opening ceremony was Ria Ramnarine, an honors graduate of the seventh edition of the ICECP and former world champion in women’s boxing from Trinidad and Tobago. As part of the IECEP, Ramnarine developed “Boxing Beyond the Ring,” a program designed to encourage female participation in boxing by highlighting the sport’s physiological and psychological benefits, including an increase in self-efficacy, empowerment and personal safety.
“I cannot express how truly honored I am to be asked to return and share my experiences with this year’s class,” said Ramnarine. “The ICECP is a great program and I am humbled to be able to have this opportunity to give back.”
The second module takes place from October 4-11, and is a sport-specific apprenticeship that allows participants to observe and interact with coaches from National Governing Bodies (NGBs), university athletic teams or elite sport clubs in each of their respective sports.
Apprenticeship sites include archery at USOTC Chula Vista; athletics and fencing at Penn State University; basketball at UD, Penn State University, Swarthmore College and The Factory Basketball School in Lewes, Delaware; boxing at Finefrock and Stumpf Golden Gloves Center in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and Harrowgate Boxing Club in Philadelphia; canoeing at USA Olympic Rowing Training Center in Oklahoma City and at Potomac Whitewater Racing Center in Bethesda, Maryland; soccer and volleyball at University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill; swimming at North Baltimore Aquatic Club; taekwondo at Power Kix Martial Arts in Virginia; and weightlifting, wrestling, modern pentathlon and judo at USOTC Colorado Springs.
The third module will take place from Oct. 11-23 at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, featuring lectures and group work activities led by USOC sport performance and coaching experts.
In the final module, participants will present their projects to the ICECP Academic Board, and again to their peers, from April 21-26 at the IOC headquarters in Lausanne. The projects will focus on improving coaching infrastructure in their home countries.
The program is headed at Delaware by Matthew Robinson, UD sport management program director, and Jeff Schneider, the director of strength and conditioning at the High Performance Figure Skating Center.
"In the past seven years we have worked with over 190 coaches and the ICECP has impacted sport in over 80 countries through the efforts of the past participants,” said Robinson. “Past participants have risen to positions of leadership in their National Olympic Committees and sport federations and have enhanced the wellbeing of athletes in their country. We will challenge this year’s class to aspire for the same goals. We could not do ICECP without our colleagues here at UD and in the sport community around the U.S. So many committed professionals contribute to the success of ICECP. It is a true team effort on the part of the U.S. sport community.”
For more information about ICECP, visit the website.
About ICECP
A program of the United States Olympic Committee, the University of Delaware and the International Olympic Committee, the International Coaching Enrichment Certification Program aims at assisting national-level coaches in developing proficiency in the areas of sport sciences, talent identification, athlete development, safe sport, coaching education, coaching management and grass roots sport development.
The intended outcome is for ICECP participants to return to their countries and serve as coaches within their respective sports, while becoming foundation builders for future coaches and athletes and spreading Olympic spirit.
Photo by Kathy F. Atkinson