Trainers and coaches are an essential part of an athlete’s success and thus having access to well-trained professionals is of utmost importance for the improvement of any sport.
The goal of this project is to establish a continuous learning curve for trainer-coaches in the equestrian sport. We will set-up a curriculum that can be implemented alongside the current existing educational program for trainer-coaches offered by the KNHS. The purpose of this project is to provide a better, structured guidance for trainer-coaches who want to move up to the next level and improve their coaching capabilities.
Trainer-coaches are one of the most important aspects of generating successful athletes. They ensure that athletes get the right support throughout their sports career. A trainer-coach doesn’t necessarily have the ability to do this properly. A thorough training offers the right basis for this. Appropriate training and refresher courses also ensure that trainer-coaches can continue to develop.
Our curriculum will have clear linkages between the educational levels so that trainer-coaches are guided through the levels. We will talk to the equestrian federation and bundle strengths of their training programs together with the strengths of other education institutions. We will also compare the training programs of other sports and learn from their practices.
Furthermore, we will follow the structure of the Dutch national sports federation and Olympic committee, NOC*NSF. Their levels range from 1 through 5, where we choose to focus on the highest three levels. These levels broadly indicate the competencies that a trainer-coach should possess. We will use this as a basis and build on these competencies with our own knowledge.
