Former ATP Top-250 player and current HKTA Head Coach, Benny Lin, was one of only sixteen candidates invited to attend the second ever ITF/Olympic Solidarity Regional Level 3 Coaching Course, which took place from December 5-17 last year at the Rama Garden Hotel in Bangkok, Thailand. Organised in conjunction with the Lawn Tennis Association of Thailand (LTAT), the head coach's subsequent pass of the demanding fourteen-day course made him the first individual to hold ITF Level 3 coaching credentials from, or residing, in Hong Kong at present.
Since the introduction of the ITF Level 2 Course syllabus to Asia in 1998, more than 100 coaches had been certified as Level 2 coaches by their National Associations. Sixteen of these coaches, from eight different countries, were selected to further develop their high performance coaching skills. The participants, which included a number of Davis Cup captains, former Davis Cup and Fed Cup players, Technical Directors of Federations and Head Coaches of National Training Centres, were assessed regarding their understanding and application of tactics, biomechanics, psychology, physical conditioning, teaching methodology and planning at the elite level.
Those who took part included Suresh Menon (ITF Development Officer - Asia), Khoo Chin-Bee (Malaysia's most decorated Fed Cupper), and Nandan Bal (ex-Indian Davis Cupper). (See Level 3 Coach Profile)
"The course was very tennis-specific and comprehensive, including one written test for each module and a training session coaching test...Definitely the most studying I've done since I got out of college! If you failed more than 3 modules, you'd have to repeat the whole course - which is only held once a year on a different continent. Next year's course will be held in South America," said Benny.
"This has certainly been a highlight of my coaching career. Hopefully, I can use whatever I learned from the course to improve all the kids here at the HKTA."
Suresh Menon, ITF Development Officer for Asia, who participated in the course said, "All of the sixteen coaches enjoyed an incredible two weeks. They are among the leading coaches in their countries and the information they have learned will hopefully lead to a blossoming of player development in the region. Again, with the cooperation of Olympic Solidarity, the ITF looks forward to holding more Level III courses in more regions in the future."
The course was conducted by ITF Research Officer, Miguel Crespo, and ITF Expert, Machar Reid.
Many of the national coaches’ courses conducted each year are funded through Olympic Solidarity, the funding agency of the International Olympic Committee. Since the reintroduction of tennis to the Olympic Games at Seoul in 1988, tennis has benefited considerably from funding for projects through the Olympic Solidarity Programmes. These projects, which are available to all sports that form part of the Olympics, operate through the National Olympic Committees and Regional Olympic Committees as appropriate, and are funded from part of the profits generated by the Olympic Games.
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Source: International Tennis Federation