NEWS

The journey has just begun in Myanmar

By Erin Greene | 17 Oct, 2014

From 6-9 October an ITU Community Coaching Course, which was granted via Olympic Solidarity fund, was held for the newly created Myanmar Triathlon Federation facilitated by Peter Clifford from Australia.

The course was held in the new capital of Nay Pyi Taw amongst many amazing new sporting facilities built recently for the SEA Games. There is a strong sporting history in the country and the locals love their sports.

Being a newly created federation the major focus of the course was to introduce the sport of triathlon to everyone. Each morning we would do theory work on General Coaching Principles, Long Term Athlete Development, Nutrition and Mental Skills. Each afternoon would be dedicated to practical learning of the 4 disciplines of swim, bike, run and transitions.

Communication was a challenge with the candidates having very little English, but this was helped by the great work of our interpreter, John Singh.

Next step for Myanmar will be to establish coaching groups, get athletes and identify and develop talent. The journey has just begun.

“I would personally like to thank the people on the ground in Myanmar who helped make this happen. Your warmth and amazing friendliness was much appreciated and enjoyed by me for the entire course.” - added Peter Clifford.

The technical officiating and event organizing part of the Community Combo Course was conducted by Peter Chua from Singapore on 10th and 11th of October.