Rockley International Welcomes Candidates from Seven Nations on Scholarship Training Course

Published on 4/10/2012

Rockley International, based at Rockley Point in Poole, is currently training seven candidates from seven nations on an ISAF Scholarship training course. The eight week long course  is designed to give participants the knowledge and skills to develop a National Sail Training Programme within their respective countries.

Rockley International is part of British Marine Federation member, Rockley and a specialist watersports consultancy company.

The candidates, from Egypt, Madagascar, Mozambique, Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Vietnam and the UAE, are currently in their third week of training which has been made possible by the IOC Olympic Solidarity funding available within these countries.

Since its inception in 2010 and together with the successful completion of the current course, the ISAF Scholarship will have trained 17 candidates from 16 nations around the world. ISAF’s aim, through the Scholarship course, is to give individuals the tools and methods to train young coaches from within these countries to create a new generation of Dinghy Instructors who will in turn drive grassroots participation within their own clubs and centres.  The ISAF Scholarship aims to not only give candidates the knowledge and expertise they require to promote sailing but also the confidence to encourage the long term development of the sport and inspire a nation of sailors both young and old.

Graham Nuna, the National Coach for Papua New Guinea is particularly excited about the Scholarship course since his country will be hosting the Pacific Games in 2015. He said: “The course is a fantastic opportunity for me to have a better understanding of how to develop a more structured sailing program in Papua New Guinea and the expertise to host, what we hope will be, a successful Games”.

Richard Percy, ISAF Training Scholarship Co-ordinator and Managing Director of Rockley International said; “Within the last two weeks the candidates have been working heavily on developing an understanding of how to produce a structured sailing coach education pathway that trains participation (learn to sail) and performance (learn to race) coaches. Both these coaching 'pathways' in participation and performance are in line with the guidelines set out in the International Council for Coaching Excellence 'International Sports Coaching Framework' document which was launched during the 2012 Olympic Games in London”.

Rockley International is the only provider of the ISAF scholarship worldwide. ISAF has now been recognised as the international minimum standard for sail training worldwide and is dedicated to developing grassroots sailing.

The ISAF Scholarship has already successfully trained candidates from South Korea, South Africa, Turkey, Peru, Cook Islands, Trinidad and Tobago, Iceland, Japan and Indonesia and has been integral in the development of the marine industry and a sustainable National Training Scheme within these countries.