University Degree Study Programme in Sports Coaching designed to suit the needs of table tennis players and coaches started with classes in November.
This global university education programme which includes and connects more than 20 recognised universities institutes and academies worldwide has been organised at the Faculty of Kinesiology University of Split in Croatia in co-operation with International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) and European Table Tennis Union (ETTU).
Aim of the project is to make quality studying accessible to a wider/global table tennis community by using all benefits of modern technologies such as “online” learning methods enabling both players and coaches to actively study regardless of their professional duties in clubs national teams or their current geographical location.
In this first academic year (2016/17) with English being the official language 20 students from 16 different countries worldwide have enrolled the TT study programme and started with classes. The majority of students are already well established coaches or still active players who have decided to use this opportunity to obtain well-rounded professional knowledge in the field of sports science and coaching and acquire a university degree while pursuing their professional coaching/playing careers. Notably the list of students includes names of some well-known former or still active table tennis internationals like Japan’s Aya UMEMURA Croatian’s Tomislav KOLAREK and Austrian’s Dominique PLATTNER.
The European Table Tennis Union as one of co-organizers of the initiative has established its own Scholarship program with an aim to provide scholarship support for coaches and players coming from European countries. This initiative also fits well and nicely supports the ETTU’s well-rounded efforts to raise the quality of coaching in Europe and is surely a big step ahead for education of coaches in our sport.
The two candidates who have been selected to receive the ETTU’s scholarship support for the academic year 2016/17 are Ms. Fragou VASILIKI from Greece and Mr. Eirik ANSNES from Norway.
