World Triathlon

From April 27 to May 1st, the beautiful and idyllic island of St. Croix in the Caribbean U.S. Virgin Islands welcomed the new ITU Level 1 Coaches Course, a pilot course revealing the new pathway of ITU’s Coaching Program for Developing National Federations. The course was remodeled and redesigned to provide novice coaches a great introduction to triathlon coaching by the use of two separate resources: an online learning platform, presented in a way to create a more personal learning environment to develop and improve coaching knowledge and skills, and also classroom sessions (theory/practical), settled on the core fundamental skills of coaching through safe, effective and inclusive values, completing the learning experience.

The St. Croix Coaches Course was granted by Olympic Solidarity along with ITU and was hosted at the wonderful Buccaneer Resort situated just outside Christiansted (capital of St. Croix), where all theory and practical sessions took place. The course counted with a small number of participants, three from the Virgin Islands and two from the Cayman Islands, who had a very active participation throughout sessions and during breaks. The group of participating coaches had the constant support of the five certified ITU Facilitators Team assembled to lead the classroom sessions throughout the week.
ITU Lead Facilitator Tony Jolly (GBR) presented the Coaches Course along with ITU Facilitators Alan Ley (USA), Rodrigo Milazzo (BRA), Claudia Beristain (MEX) and Brett Petersen (USA), bringing about quality on delivering course sessions and providing the best learning experience possible to participating coaches.

Through the new Coaches Education pathway, it is expected that the forthcoming coaches will be more appropriately qualified and skilled for triathlon coaching, thus raising the standards in coaching practice in developing nations. In order to achieve this goal, standardized assessment procedures were constantly performed and supported by the highly skilled team of facilitators selected by ITU. Therefore, this culture of self-improvement & personal excellence will certainly enhance the quality of coaching at all stages of the athlete pathway, resulting in an increased participation and performance of those National Federations.

Scott Fricks, president of the Virgin Islands Triathlon Federation – V.I.T.F., spared no efforts to provide coaches and facilitators the best environment possible so that the overall outcome was reached. Throughout the course, Scott (an ITU certified coach himself) was very enthusiastic about the whole atmosphere generated by the coaching experience. By the end of the whole learning process, the V.I.T.F. was greatly excited about the possibility of the new Virgin Islands Coaches take triathlon to the next level of development in the island.

ITU Development will continue to provide full support to developing National Federations to achieve their goals towards the growth of Triathlon globally. Upcoming Coaches Courses are planned for the remainder of 2015 – check regularly: http://www.triathlon.org/development/coach/itu_coach_education_program