Over the first few weeks of July 2018, Singapore Gymnastics (SG) was very honoured and privileged to host the Rhythmic Gymnastics (RG) Federation Internationale de Gymnastique (FIG) Level 1 Coach Academy in Singapore for the first time.

For the RG Academy's debut in Singapore, SG was pleased to have experts Lurdes Carvalho, Nadya Aleksandrova and Helena Dias all the way from Portugal, Great Britain and Portugal respectively present the lectures. The course, stretching over 7 full days from 3-10 July 2018, was attended by 18 participants, 9 of which, although of different nationalities, were based locally.

The Academy proved to be very rigorous, stretching the participants to their limits by covering a plethora of subjects ranging from basic warm up to group routine and sport psychology. On top of that, the candidates had to factor in studying and preparing for their theory and practical examination on the last two days. While positively nerve-racking at points, many candidates took up the challenge with great furore which indirectly resulted in great friendships being forged. Indeed, a heartening common sentiment among the participants was gratitude for the opportunity to network, bond and grow as coaches together.

Many participant coaches also expressed great appreciation for the patience and insight the experts exhibited while addressing their questions. Said Malaysian Nina Chow, “I really enjoyed the level of detail that was shared in terms of ballet exercises.”

Considering the vibrant mix of coaches from different backgrounds with varying experience levels, the examination results, while not top of the class, nevertheless still reflected the combined hard effort of the participants and experts. A notable achievement was that of coach Hashizume Misuzu from Japan, placing second in the Theory component despite being far from fluent in English. Coaches Tengku Noor (of Malaysia) and Cecilia Chia (of Singapore), also did exceptionally well, placing overall second ahead of more experienced coaches.

SG would like to extend our sincere thanks to the three experts for all their encouragement and guidance. Not forgetting the kind support from the gymnastics Federations of Bulgaria, Canada, China, Japan, Malaysia and Russia, without which, this Academy would not have been possible.