BELIZE CITY, Mon. Oct. 24, 2016–On September 17, 2016, Belizean volleyball coach, Mr. Oscar Arnold traveled to the U.S. to take part in the Ninth Edition of the International Coaches Enrichment Certificate Program. Coaches from thirty-three countries and fifteen sport disciplines from five continents took part in the courses. The program is a collaborative effort between the International Olympic Committee, United States Olympic Committee, the Belize Commonwealth Olympic Association, and the University of Delaware.

Coach Arnold spent the first two weeks on the University of Delaware campus participating in numerous seminars and workshops on coaching theory, sport sciences and sport medicine. He then underwent a one week apprenticeship at the University of North Carolina where he was imbedded and shadowed the coaching staff of the UNC female indoor volleyball team. UNC is a NCAA Div. 1 program and participates in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC). This week exposed our coach to training, planning, recruiting, and injury rehabilitation of volleyball athletes within a high-performance environment.

The final two weeks were spent at the United States Olympic Committee High Performance Training facility in Colorado Springs. In Colorado Springs, Coach Arnold took part in various courses and workshops dealing with high performance athlete management, sport sciences, rehabilitation and injury prevention. Presentations were made by US Olympic coaches, trainers, and sport scientists. Various presentations were made by Coach Arnold one of which outlined a project that he must undertake and execute over the next six months upon returning to Belize.

Coach Arnold will travel to Lausanne, Switzerland in April 2017, where he will need to present and defend the results of his project before a panel of coaching and sport sciences experts to attain a passing grade and final certification for the program.