The International Festival of Athletics Coaching (IFAC) returns to Rome from 23 October to Sunday 25 October 2015, in partnership with the Italian Olympic Committee (CONI) at their Acquacetosa Olympic Training Centre in the Italian capital.
From FIFA World Cup winners to volley Olympic bronze medallists to Rugby World Cup finalists, the European Athletics Coaches Association has gathered a line up of some of the best coaches from across the sporting world for 2015.
The programme, which is part of the European Athletics Coaching Summit series, will focus on cross sports learning and networking for this year’s coaching festival.
Sergio Lara Bercial from Leeds Beckett University and the International Council for Coaching Excellence (ICCE) will open the conference on Friday 23 October with his keynote on the research of “Characteristics of Serial Winning Coaches” – immediately setting the stage for two international revered coaches: Marcello Lippi and Mauro Berruto.
Lippi, of course, is the mastermind behind Italy’s 2006 FIFA World Cup victory and is revered as one of the greatest and most successful managers in football history. From his long and illustrious career in football, Lippi will reflect on “Coach as Leader & Manager” in his keynote.
Berruto is equally well known on the volleyball court having guided the Italian national side twice to European silvers and to a fantastic Olympic bronze at London 2012. A key part of Berruto’s coaching strategy “Technology: a Critical Coaching Instrument” will be the topic of his keynote.
Keynote presentations, resume on the Sunday 25 October by asking “Are You Ready for Rio” with Elio Locatelli. Locatelli is currently a technical consultant for the Italian Olympic Committee ahead of Rio 2016, having already served a number of major championships as Italian Head Coach.
Dr. Marco Cardinale, head of Sports Physiology at the Aspire Academy in Qatar, will discuss “Informing Coaches Decisions” from his standpoint as a prominent sports scientist. Before relocating to Qatar, Cardinale was head of sports science and research for the British Olympic Association for three Olympic Games, including London 2012.
The final keynote of the conference will be reserved for Eddie Jones, the man who provided the shock start to the Rugby World Cup by guiding the Japanese side to an inspirational victory over the mighty South Africans. Jones, who also managed the Australian side when they reached the finals of the Rugby World Cup in 2003, will discuss “Building Sustainable Performance Excellence”.
Closing the conference for 2015, the annual European Coaches’ address will reflect on the learning from the conference and will conclude with “We are agents of change” with EACA President Frank Dick.
For the 2015 edition of IFAC the organisers have introduced a new innovative format for the breakout sessions on Saturday 24 October, with delegates being able to follow one of the six streams. The streams have been designed with all aspects of the coaching, development, performance and support team in mind:
· Preparing for a life through Sport
· Partnerships in Performance Coaching
· Turning our Mind to Advantage
· From High Performance to High Potential
· Building Fitness Platforms and Bridges
· Final Year Major Campaign Preparation
Interventions in the six streams will include keynote speakers along with a number of other contributors. Staff from the French Sports High Performance Centre INSEP will take a lead on the stream ‘High Performance to High Potential’, along with Olympic gold medallist Alessandro Campagna (water polo).
Team Canada’s sports psychologist, Dr. Penny Werthner, will lead on the ‘Turning our Mind to Advantage’ stream along with Italian counterpart Guiseppe Vercelli.
Leading a practical orientated stream, ‘Building Fitness Platforms and Bridges’ will be the trio of movement experts Vincenzo Canali, Wolfgang Ritzdorf & Vern Gambetta.
Bill Glad of European Athletics, will join the Final Year Major Campaign Preparation stream with Rio 2016 in mind.
For further information on the programme such as booking and accommodation, please visit the event website or contact [email protected]
The full IFAC 2015 programme is available under 'Related Documents'.