Visit Mossel Bay - Mossel Bay-based sailor named coach of the year

Rob Holden ? who runs SA Sailing?s coaches training programme - was named coach of the year at the South Western District?s Regional Sports Awards.

?I was nominated by the Coaches Commission, but obviously I thought I didn't stand a chance since I was up against coaches in much bigger codes, like rugby and soccer,? he said.

?But I?m delighted because sailing isn?t a mainline sport, and it gets great exposure when things like this happen.?

The award puts Mr. Holden in line for the Provincial Awards, which are expected to be announced in March, and which will also draw nominations from the Cape Metropole, Boland, and the West Coast.

?Sailing isn?t seen as accessible, but we?re working hard to change that: in fact, it is very accessible, and it?s an Olympic sport for South Africa,? he said.

Besides holding the post of National Training Manager for South African Sailing, Mr. Holden is also its Coach and high performance manager, and the nominated expert for the International Sailing Federation.

?I?m mainly a coach of coaches ,and in the last year I?ve trained 60 people as level 1 and 2 coaches during ten courses which we?ve held here in South Africa, and I?ve also coached 40 people for an internationally recognised safety certificate,? he said.

?I?ve also run high performance courses in Maputo Mozambique for top coaches from South Africa, Mozambique, Nigeria, Egypt, Sudan, Morocco, Zimbabwe, Kenya and Tanzania which were funded by Olympic Solidarity.?

As a result of a level 1 coaching course which he conducted, Mozambique?s girls class Optimist team took bronze in the All African Games.

He has also taught catamaran sailing and boat safety boat to coaches from Egypt, Fiji, the United Arab Emirates, Vietnam, Madagascar, and Papua?New?Guinea.

?I?ve coached a number of young South Africans to positions in provincial and national championships - including a 420 team who came 2^nd?in the Youth Nationals and second in the Eastern Cape championships.

?And I?ve set up the South African Coaching Framework, the South African High Performance strategy, and the South African Long Term Participant Development (LTPD) program which was developed yachtsmen, Olympic sailors, administrators, officials and sailing coaches together with the South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (SASCOC) and the Department of Sports and Recreation South Africa (SRSA) to improve the quality of sailing in the country, and attract new blood into the sport.

?I was also in charge of all the organisation and logistics for the South African sailing team at this year?s Olympics,? said Mr. Holden.

He said that 2013 is going to be an incredibly busy year for him. ?As the regional development officer for the International Sailing Federation (ISAF), I?m involved in Sail Africa, which aims to ?develop sailing in all the countries of sub-Saharan Africa.

?In this capacity I?m working towards getting countries like Lesotho, Swaziland, and Malawi into ISAF and eventually to get them to take part in the Olympics.

?But I?m also going to be putting a lot of energy into making sailing more accessible at home, where many, many people can?t afford the sport.

?To do this, we begin by training coaches, and we?re working with organisations like the Lotto and the Department to make it happen.?

Mossel Bay councilor and Mossel Bay Tourism board member, Emil Scheepers, congratulated Mr. Holden on his award.

?Rob?s done almost more than anyone else to put Mossel Bay on the map as a preferred sailing destination, and this has already had a real impact on tourism: it?s brought literally hundreds of sailors and their families here for their regattas and championships ? and having seen how great Mossel Bay really is, we expect that many of them will return for their holidays this year and in the future.

?We wish him well in the Provincial competition, and in his work for sailing in Mossel Bay and South Africa,? he said.

More information

Mossel Bay Tourism: www.visitmosselbay.co.za and www.facebook.com/VisitMosselBay Bay

South African Sailing:?www.sailing.org.za

Source: http://www.visitmosselbay.co.za/media-releases/mossel-bay-based-sailor-named-coach-of-the-year

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