PRINCETON, N.J. - The International Rowing Federation (FISA) has chosen the United States Rowing Association and Princeton National Rowing Association to host its 16th FISA Youth Coaches Conference. The three-day event will be held October 13-16, 2011 in Princeton, N.J.
This year's conference, which is expected to draw between 50 and 70 international youth rowing coaches, will be held in honor of the late W. Hart Perry. Perry made significant contributions to youth rowing in his lifetime and was instrumental in the creation of both the conference itself and the FISA Youth Commission.
"Rowing is among the fastest growing youth sports in the United States," said USRowing CEO Glenn Merry. "In the past decade, high school rowing has exploded into thousands of participants and hundreds of regattas annually. USRowing looks forward to bringing youth rowing coaches from around the world to the FISA Youth Coaches Conference in Princeton where they can exchange ideas and approaches to the growth of the sport.
"We are excited to be selected to host the 2011 FISA Youth Coaches Conference," said PNRA Executive Director Kris Grudt. "This is a great opportunity to get coaches from around the world together to discuss the development of athletes in a place that has produced world-class athletes. We are especially pleased that this year's conference will be acknowledging the work of Hart Perry in the global development of youth rowing. Hart was a longtime member of PNRA's Board of Directors." When the conference was established 15 years ago, the primary purpose was to create a forum for coaches who work with young athletes, which have different needs than the elite rowers, according to FISA Commission member Axel Müller.
"We want to offer them the opportunity to share experiences with other coaches who are coaching international athletes and discuss themes related to their daily work - talent identification and development, health issues related to young rowers and adequate training methodology for each age group," said Müller. "We also try to create a network of youth coaches, so that they can contact colleagues worldwide and ask for help, clarify doubts and share information related to youth coaching."
More information about the 2011 FISA Youth Coaches Conference including registration deadlines, speakers and discussion topics will be available in the upcoming months at www.usrowing.org.