ISAF Training Scholarship - Candidates ready to participate

by ISAF on 27 Aug 2014 The National Olympic Committees (NOCs) of Chinese Taipei, Cyprus, Japan, Latvia, Russia and Sri Lanka have supported IOC Olympic Solidarity funding applications for candidates to attend the course. 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.

A major part of ISAF's training and development programme, the Scholarship is designed to develop the skills of coaches who are already working in a training environment. Previous candidates have played significant roles in their own national training programmes and the promotion of the sport.

Mr Ming-Chi Hsu joins the course from Chinese Taipei with a long term objective of increasing participation in Taiwan and stimulating marine tourism in the country.

'It is a great honor to represent my country by being accepted onto the 2014 ISAF Training Scholarship.' said Mr Hsu. 'As the first Taiwan sailing sports coach to join this programme, I feel great responsibility. I am looking forward to this training very much with excitement.

My personal hopes for this training are for me to promote my personal vision, learn the international sailing sport system and development strategy.'

Keen to gain a better understanding of different boats and boards, Hsu will take his learnings back home to share with colleagues at his MNA.

'Our MNA will benefit by me proposing policy recommendations to Taiwan sailing race system and recreation development and by stimulating domestic leisure sailing culture and promotion of national sport. It is also important for our national federation to have an association with ISAF and MNAs in the Asian vicinity as being the contact window to get the latest information,' he concluded.

Head National Youth Coach from Russia, Anastasia Chernova has a long term goal - to win medals at the Olympic Games in 2020. 'I am very happy to be a candidate for the 2014 ISAF Training Scholarship.' said Chernova. 'it is a fine opportunity for me to gain more knowledge of management of a sailing team and coaching. I hope that this scholarship will give me new development in my profession.'

'I believe that in me the Russian Yachting Federation will receive a good expert, capable of professionally organizing a national team and of building a system for training coaches in Russia.'

Elena Papazoglou, a member of the ISAF Development and Youth Committee, will represent Cyprus on the course and is looking forward to bringing new skills back to an island that won it's first Olympic sailing medal in 2012.

'I am very honoured and excited that I have been selected for this Training Scholarship! This is a great opportunity for me to develop my knowledge, learn new things, to share ideas and material with other people who are as passionate about this sport, as I am.' said Papazoglou.

'This will definitely be a big advantage for Cyprus. I will be able to transfer all these new things to our sailing community so that all aspects of sailing will improve. Furthermore, I believe that I will be able to bring to Cyprus ideas about the best practices, based on examples of more developed sailing countries. Cyprus is an island and although we now have an Olympic Medallist in Pavlos Kontides, sailing is unfortunately not a yet a very popular sport. My short term goals are to help the sailing community in Cyprus to increase participation in sailing by getting people to understand that sailing is a fantastic lifetime sport.'

'We are seeing signs of increasing interest, but with bigger numbers come the need for specialized management and organization of the national structures in our sport. Once the short term goals are achieved, the set up and organization has to be in place to accept the bigger numbers of sailors. The idea is to be ready when the challenge is there to offer expertise and professional advice. I hope to see our blue waters full of sails!'

Hsu, Chernova and Papazoglou will be joined by Krishnan Janaka Weladagoda Parthiranage from Sri Lanka, Hiroshi Hosaka from Japan and Zaklina Litauniece from Latvia.

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).