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The Yachting Union of Latvia, supported by IOC funding through the Latvian National Olympic Committee hosted their Level 1 Course from 11-17 May In Riga, Latvia whilst Seychelles Yachting Association, supported by the Seychelles National Olympic Committee were the recipients from 30 June to 4 July in Victoria, Seychelles.

The aim of the ISAF Level 1 Technical Course for Coaches is to:

To teach potential coaches how to introduce the fundamental skills required for non sailors to be able to take part in their first experience on the water learning how to independently manoeuvre a boat on all points of sail in no more than moderate conditions. The Level 1 course candidates will gain knowledge and practical experiences to deliver practical and theoretical sessions to anyone (youth or adult) wishing to take part in the sport of sailing.

Ansis Dale, President of the Yachting Union of Latvia, said, "We know that this seminar will not immediately affect the results of Latvian sailors. It is however a turning point in our work to increase the quality of coaching and broadening of the Latvian sailing culture. The fact that the course combined dinghy sailing, windsurfing and kiteboarding also benefited all the participants, helping coaches to get more insight and perspective on other aspects of sailing.

"Our coaches also commented that it was not only beneficial to learn new things and exercises, but also to receive an approval that their coaching methods are correct."

Alain Alcindor, Chairman of the Seychelles Yachting Association added, "Having all hands on deck, the Association with the help of the Seychelles Olympic and Commonwealth Games Association, Olympic Solidarity, International Sailing Federation, National Sports Council and the coaches is now ready to move towards reaching the set goal. In addition we are looking forward to holding the Level 2 Technical Course soon, with the help of all our partners. The last time Seychelles received such a course was over 10 years ago, in 2003.

"Having attended the course the participants are now urged to give back to the community as much as possible. ISAF Expert Rob Holden even gave them a target to achieve 1% sailing participation of our 90,000 population in the next 5 years. All participants took this in a positive way as the way forward and have committed themselves to reaching this goal and looking at the possibility of going beyond that as well."

Rob Holden, ISAF Regional Development Co-ordinator for Africa commented on the development of sailing in the Seychelles, "There is currently very little organised sailing happening from existing sailing venues such as Yacht Clubs. All of the Dinghy sailing takes place through the National Sailing scheme which has over 30 Optimists in good condition and also over 30 Lasers for which all 3 rig sizes are available. The one-person equipment pathway is well covered but there are no two-person boats, causing a very high dropout rate when sailors leave the Optimist.

"I personally feel that the biggest challenge in the Seychelles is the development of enough coaches to deliver the national scheme. The level of people on the course varied between top sailors who are reasonable 'High Performance' coaches through to sailors who are coaching Optimists at a basic level. A national coach development program is essential for long-term success."

Click here for a PDF copy of the ISAF Coaching Framework document used to develop National Coaching Education Pathways.

Full details of the programs available through the IOC Olympic Solidarity funding are available through the ISAF Website here: www.sailing.org/training/iocfunding ISAF Technical Course outlines are available to download here: www.sailing.org/training/coursesforcoaches/technicalcourse

Regular updates on all our programs (including pictures from all courses) are be available on our Training and Development Facebook page here and via Twitter at @ISAFDevelopment

For information on all of the programmes and initiatives that have been developed by ISAF in order to help increase global participation in the sport, please visit our dedicated training pages here or contact the ISAF Training and Development Department here.