Coaching course in Colombo (SRI) hailed as ‘huge step forward’

Sri Lanka held its first Level 1 Coaching Course at the Ministry of Sports in the capital city of Colombo from April 20-24, with 21 coaches earning their certification.

The course was attended by national coaches, elite athletes, ministry sports officers and university students studying sports science.

Sri Lanka’s Army, Navy and Air Force were also represented in a group that brought together coaches from swimming, fencing and athletics, hailing from various regions of the country from Galle in the south to Jaffna in the north.

Director General of Sports, Buwaneka Herath, presented the successful coaches with their certificates after a course organised by the Modern Pentathlon Federation of Sri Lanka (MPFSL), facilitated by UIPM with the support of the Ministry of Sports.

Dmytro Kirpulianskyy (UKR), member of the UIPM Instructor Group and former Olympian, supervised the course and the coaches were trained in theoretical classroom sessions, practical sessions and outdoor sessions for pentathlon disciplines. They then went through a written and oral interview examination before being certified.

Nishante Piyasena, President of MPFSL, said: “This is a huge step forward for the sport of Modern Pentathlon in Sri Lanka as it is in the early stages of development in the country.

“This will no doubt take the sport to the rural regions of the country and provide athletes with valuable resources to get properly coached in the sport.”