FIG Academy Programme
LAUSANNE (SUI), FIG Office, December 13, 2011: The FIG Academies, a worldwide education programme for coaches in the federation’s six competitive disciplines that was launched in 2002, celebrated the 10th year of its existence in 2011.
With eighteen Academies held throughout the year in fourteen different countries and on all continents, the programme that has as its goal to provide gymnastically developing and fully developed countries with a common knowledge base for the growth of high performance gymnasts, now counts a total of 118 Academies overall. In October, overall participation reached 3,000 coaches, marking an important milestone for this education programme.
The FIG Academy Programme consists of three levels of coach education. Federations may enter at a level that reflects their specific gymnastic coaching education programmes at home. Thus, federations with no gymnastics coaching education or only occasional coaching clinics must begin at Level 1. Those with formal coaching education programmes may begin at Level 2. Those with formal university degree programmes specifically for gymnastic coaches may begin at Level 3. Level 3 candidates who meet special pre-requisites and achieve exceptional examination results will be awarded with an FIG Coaches’ Brevet.
Even though the FIG does not certify or license coaches, federation-oriented responsibility, the seven-day Academy courses conclude with a comprehensive theoretical and practical examination.
Overview of Academies and Levels held in 2011
|
MAG & WAG |
AEROBICS |
RHYTHMIC |
TRAMPOLINE |
ACROBATICS |
GYM 4 ALL |
|
Belgium L2 |
Vietnam L2 |
Italy L3 |
Venezuela L2 |
Canada L3 |
Colombia |
|
Portugal L2 |
Colombia L2 |
Trinidad L1 |
South Africa L2 |
Portugal L3 |
|
|
Mexico L3 |
Senegal L1 |
Brazil L2 |
|
Venezuela L1 |
|
Japan L3 |
|
Japan L3 |
|
|
Chile L1 |
|
This three-level FIG Academy Programme has a high performance orientation but is supplemented, in cooperation with the FIG Gymnastics for All Committee, with a cross-discipline Gymnastics Foundations course targeting federations that are in the preliminary stages of establishing organised gymnastics programmes in their countries.
Each year, the FIG allocates a significant sum to its associated continental unions for development projects, with a certain percentage of this contribution being used for the organisation and participation of coaches at the Academy programmes.
Effective as of the year 2012, candidates for mandates within any FIG Technical Committee must have participated at a Level 3 Academy for their respective discipline. However, a Coaching Brevet is not mandatory.
Outlook for 2012
A total of twenty-five Academies are planned in 2012 with the following confirmed to date:
Overview of confirmed Academies and Levels planned for 2012
|
MAG & WAG |
AEROBICS |
RHYTHMIC |
TRAMPOLINE |
ACROBATICS |
GYM 4 ALL |
|
Chile L2 |
Colombia L3 |
Brazil L3 |
Venezuela L3 |
Portugal L3 |
PAGU |
|
(place TBC) |
|
Barbados L1 |
France L3 |
Portugal L3 |
Morocco L1 |
|
|
|
Dominican Republic L1 |
Algeria L1 |
|
|
|
|
Germany L3 |
|
|
|
|
Egypt L1 |
|
Hardy Fink, the FIG Director of Education and Academy Programmes, said: “With the participation now of over 1,700 different coaches from 106 member federations at 118 Academies hosted by 44 countries, the FIG Academy Programme can now claim to be a world-wide programme. The coming year will bring even more Academies to make up for some of the ones that had to be postponed in 2011 because of the political conditions in the Arabian and North African countries.
The Academy Programme for Men’s and Women’s Artistic Gymnastics has been supplemented this year with a comprehensive Age Group Development, Competition and Testing Programme that was introduced to 17 countries in 2011 to which will be added as many as 25 more during 2012.
The continuing support of the FIG President and Executive Committee has made this unique and extraordinary educational effort possible and has certainly already had a positive impact around the world. Thanks go also to the thirty-nine federations that have permitted the use of over 170 of their experts to teach at these many Academies and courses.”
Check out the detailed summary of completed and planned Academies here!
For more information, statistics, reviews and photo galleries of the FIG Academy Programme, visit the “Education” section on the FIG website.
