First for Egyptian rowing coach

An Egyptian coach has become the first rowing coach to complete the International Coaching Enrichment Certificate Programme (ICECP). Rasha Ghoneim of Egypt completed the programme sponsored by the Olympic Solidarity, the University of Delaware and the United States Olympic Committee (USOC).

The aim of the programme is to improve national coaching around the world. As part of the programme coaches get to learn about sports science, talent identification, athlete development and grass roots sports development among other things.

Twenty coaches graduated from the programme which was a joint initiative between the USOC, the International Olympic Committee’s Olympic Solidarity division and the University of Delaware. During the course participants spent time at the University of Delaware, USA, the US Olympic Training Centre in Colorado Springs, USA, and at the headquarters of the International Olympic Committee in Lausanne, Switzerland.

Ghoneim was one of the 20 coaches who came from just as many countries and represented 12 sports. For Ghoneim, work for the certificate began last year in September.

Currently the Egyptian national team assistant coach, Ghoneim hopes to use her gained knowledge from the programme to initiate a rowing coaching accreditation programme in Egypt.

The ICECP is offered to National Olympic Committees worldwide and participants present their final project to the ICECP Academic Board at the IOC headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland. FISA president Denis Oswald was on hand to meet Ghoneim and was the keynote speaker at the graduation ceremony of Ghoneim. Oswald is also an IOC executive board member and president of the Association of Summer Olympic International Federations (ASOIF).

This is the second year of the ICECP and it was decided for this second edition to focus the programme on 15 core sports. Rowing was chosen as one of these sports. 

"This year's candidates demonstrated the potential and ability to impact sport in their country and to promote the Olympic vision of making the world a better place through sport," said Dr. Matthew J. Robinson, director of the ICECP and professor of Sport Management at the University of Delaware.

Coaches from the following countries graduated from ICECP: Barbados, Chinese Taipei, Dominica, Egypt, El Salvador, Greece, Guam, Indonesia, Libya, Macedonia, Malta, Mongolia, Netherlands Antilles, Pakistan, Peru, Puerto Rico, Serbia, Sierra Leone, Trinidad and Tobago, and Zimbabwe.

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