FIG Academies

The FIG Academy Programme

The FIG Academy Programme is the culmination of a worldwide education programme for coaches in six of the FIG disciplines (Men's Artistic, Women's Artistic, Rhythmic, Trampoline, Aerobic and Acrobatic). It was developed as a result of the 1994 FIG Congress decision that eliminated compulsory exercises for Artistic Gymnastics. The underlying philosophy emerged from a comprehensive world-wide review and analysis of the sport science literature related to the growth and development characteristics of a child as it progresses from birth to adulthood and how that knowledge should have implications for training.

That information along with an analysis of the world’s best practice and a strong “athlete centered” philosophy led to decision about what should be included in a coach education programme to assure the safe and systematic training of gymnasts in all disciplines towards high performance. With this, the Academy Programme has the goal to provide lesser developed as well as highly developed Gymnastics countries with a common knowledge base for the development of high performance gymnasts. If coaches follow the information and processes provided through the FIG Academy Programme, they will not be making any large errors in the development of their gymnasts.

The FIG Academy Programme is integrated into the Singapore Gymnastics Coach Education Framework. It sits above the SG Intermediate Courses, as the next step. As such, it is a requirement for any Singapore residents to complete an Intermediate SG Coaching Course (if offered) as a pre-requisite for attending a FIG Academy. 

The curriculum for each FIG Academy includes eight to ten sport-science lectures that have been prepared and focused to meet the specific needs of Gymnastics coaches. There are also extensive in-gym technical sessions for all pieces of apparatus or technical requirements for each FIG Sport as well as in music and artistic preparation, choreography and physical preparation. The content of each 7-day academy is about one-third theory and two-thirds practical lectures and the curriculum is now also fully integrated with the FIG Age Group Development & Competition Programme.

The FIG does not certify or license coaches. That is specifically the responsibility of each federation. The FIG will provide the examination results to the federation of each participating coach and then the federation must decide what status those results will confer on its coaches.

For more information about the next FIG Academy, please contact membership@singaporegymnastics.org.sg