Fifteen coaches from six Asian countries have gathered together in Changping, China for an intense 12 day Level 1 coaching course in conjunction with the 2006 Beijing BG Triathlon World Cup.  Doubling as a test event for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games triathlon competition, the venue is ideal for hosting the seminar to develop the level of coach education within Asia.

The course has been made possible by the new partnership with BG Group and is the first ever ITU Accredited Level 1 course of its kind.  Libby Burrell, ITU Director of Sport Development has stressed that ITU has made coach education a priority and will embark on a campaign to establish coach education programmes in federations around the world.

Coaches from China, Korea, Macau, Mongolia, Philippines and Singapore are represented at this first edition of the ongoing coach education programme. Alan Ley (Coach Education Manager, USAT), Craig Redman (Sport Development Coordinator, Triathlon Australia) and Brendon Downey (High Performance Coach, New Zealand) have joined Libby Burrell on the teaching staff for the course.

The Coach Education courses are part of the overall Sport Development programme made possible by the recent partnership between BG Group and the ITU. 

The next BG/ITU Sport Development programme is a regional development camp scheduled to be held in Guatemala in early November.