Turkish artistic gymnastics coaches attend FIG coaching seminar in Bolu

Bolu, Turkey; 27 January 2020: The Turkish Gymnastics Federation and Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique (FIG) held a technical course for Turkish coaches from 21-25 January in Bolu, Turkey.

The four-day course was run in collaboration with the Turkish Olympic Committee (TOC) and received financial support from the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) Olympic Solidarity fund.

The course, attended by 30 coaches from 27 different cities in Turkey, focused on best practices for teaching children between the ages of 6 to 9. The course also sought to ensure that coaches adopted the right techniques when training young gymnasts and focused on strengthening their general knowledge about the sport.

The course was led by Slovenian gymnast Aljaz Pegan, who is a European and World champion, FIG Artistic Gymnastics Athlete Representative and Men's Artistic Gymnastics Technical Committee Member.

"It is a very different feeling when you attend a course led by an instructor such as Aljaz Pegan," said one of the attendees Özlem Yıldız from Mardin City. "Following the course, the first thing we will do will be to convey what we learned to every child we can reach. I would like to thank the Turkish Olympic Committee and the Turkish Gymnastics Federation for this opportunity," he added.

Another participant Mustafa Karaca from Sinop city said: "At this four-day course our main goal is to learn the right methods for teaching gymnastics to children. Of course, it was also exciting to receive these trainings from our childhood role model, Aljaz Pegan. Thanks to this course, we have understood once again that we are touching the lives of children and it is not impossible to develop future champions if we teach them the basic skills correctly."

Speaking after the course was completed, Aljaz Pegan said: "I have been in gymnastics for 36 years and have been working with the Turkish Gymnastics Federation since 2014. Together with the Federation, we train our coaches to prepare children between the ages of 6 to 9 for the first step in this sport. Our main topics include basic and special body development for gymnastics in this age group, as well as basic movements and basic points in each apparatus. This course will have significant benefits for its participants. One of the important problems I noticed was that gymnastics sport, which should be learned step by step, was not taught in this way and the body development was not given due importance. This course will benefit the future of Turkish gymnastics. After the course, the participants will learn what step they should take when they notice mistakes committed by their athletes and then how to fix it."

Turkish Gymnastics Federation President Suat Çelen said: "We have a highly successful generation at the moment. As you know, İbrahim Çolak and Ahmet Önder have achieved outstanding successes at the last World Championships. For the continuation of these successes, we need to invest in future generations.

"There are many reasons why we chose Aljaz Pegan as an instructor. He is already a legendary name in the sport. Besides, I was very surprised when I visited him in his own gymnastics hall in Slovenia. A trainer who has won three world and five European championships and three series named after him from a small hall. For this reason, I believe it will be very useful for our coaches. I want to take this opportunity to thank the Turkish Olympic Committee and Olympic Solidarity for funding the course."

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