NEWS

ITU Level 2 Coaches Course is held in Croatian city of Pula

By Doug Gray | 17 Oct, 2019
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Under the organisation of Zeljko Bijuk on behalf of the ETU, the ITU Level 2 Coaches Course returned for a third consecutive year to Pula in Croatia from 9-13 October. Delivered by Emma Brunning (GBR), Sergio Santos (POR) and Tony Jolly (GBR), the facilities available continue to improve greatly, including a swimming pool added last year in close proximity to the running track making it an excellent coastal venue.

Female and male coaches attended from a variety of National Federations and backgrounds, including those who worked with young people, Age-Group and Elite athletes from countries including Croatia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia. The course has been designed to help coaches of different types of athletes to be able to develop their own coaching, so that they are in the best position to help their athletes and grow and develop the sport both within their own Federation and from a wider global perspective.

The ITU Level 2 Course itself continues to grow and develop, the current version including a wide range of practical, theoretical and discussion sessions. Some of the recent advances include more practical testing sessions in the pool and a bike test performed by a coaches who continues to compete at an Elite level.

“The discussion elements were held in a variety of settings, including practical psychology sessions conducted in a beach beach setting that worked really well with the coaches,” said Tony Jolly. “It was excellent to see the bonding and shared learning between all the coaches on the course, and the future chances of the coaches working together both with each other and the Facilitators has been enhanced by the course.”

An overview of the course can be seen here: (credit Sergio Santos).


“Every Coach and Federation has issues to overcome to help grow the sport and develop athletes,” added Jolly, “that is always the nature of sport development. A key aim of the course is to give coaches the skills and knowledge to be able to return to their country and share the knowledge they have gained and help develop the sport.”