ISAF Training Scholarship - Japan and Latvia on course

by ISAF on 28 Aug 2014 Candidates from both Japan and Latvia share their goals as they count down to the 2014 ISAF Training Scholarship.

The National Olympic Committees (NOCs) of Chinese Taipei, Cyprus, Latvia, Russia and Sri Lanka have supported IOC Olympic Solidarity funding applications for candidates to attend the course. The candidate from Japan is funded through an internal sports development internship fund. Based in the UK, the eight week course gets underway on Monday 1 September.

An up to date schedule of the 2014 ISAF Training Scholarship Course is available via the ISAF website here.

Hiroshi Hosaka from Japan is looking ahead to 2020 when Tokyo will host the Olympic Games. 'My short term goals are to establish a training and development network in Japan that will ensure we have strong entries in all classes at Toyko2020.'

'The Japanese Sailing Federation is really motivated to win medals at the Olympic and Paralympic Games and by taking part in this Scholarship, I hope to be able to improve our development programme from zone, junior and youth squads up to the Paralympic and Olympic squads,' he said.

Hosaka is also focussed on gaining as much knowledge as he can from the expert instructors. 'I am really looking forward to the interchange with the Instructors. I want to lean Coaching-Styles and Skills of the ISAF Standard that I can modify to work in Japan. The mission after my return home will be to spread this knowledge to the Sailing Coaches in Japan as quickly as possible.'

Zklina Litauniece joins the scholarship from Latvia. 'I am proud to be selected as a participant for the ISAF Training Scholarship programme by my country's sailing federation and the NOC,' she said.

'I think it is a great opportunity for a small country like Latvia to get the insight in the worlds leading organization in sports of sailing.'

Litauniece's short term goal is to become a National Coach but long term she wants to help others choose coaching as a profession. 'My MNA is still developing and from this course I want to bring fresh ideas and knowledge that will help us to restructure our training schemes.'

Hosaka and Litauniece will be joined by Ming-Chi Hsu from Chinese Taipei, Elena Papazglou from Cyprus, Anastasia Chernova from Russia and Krishnan Janaka Weladagoda Parthiranage from Sri Lanka.

For more information about programmes and initiatives developed to help increase global participation in the sport, please visit www.sailing.org/training or contact the ISAF Training and Development Department (training@isaf.com).