Austrian Sailing Federation Approved For ISAF Accreditation

Recommendation for full accreditation of the Austrian National Sail Training Programme has been successfully approved by ISAF. The four day inspection from 26 – 31 December included a comprehensive review of the programme management combined with visits to a range of schools and the National Sports Centre on Lake Neusiedl.

Dr Kornfeld the President of the Austrian Sailing Federation speaks of the ISAF Recognized Training Accreditation, “The Austrian Learn to Sail programme exists since more than 20 years and it was a milestone in the programme’s successful history to become the first ISAF recognized training programme from a land-locked country.

“We believe that the world wide recognition process by ISAF will provide certain standards around the globe, which is the best advertising for the sport of sailing.“

Speaking to ISAF after the Inspection Helmut Czasny, the National Training Co-ordinator explained what the benefits of this Accreditation were, “The work before and during the inspection visit was a very fruitful period for both the Austrian Federation and the sailing centres involved in the application process. The inspectors in their role as auditors from outside provided us with a serious amount of comments and ideas on how to develop the programme further.“

With ISAF identifying that national federations have the need for more involvement and thus engaging its international membership further by organising an ISAF Development Symposium covering many diverse topics in the field of Training and Development, Mr Czasny added, “I look forward to the ISAF Training Symposium in March as this will be an excellent opportunity for exchange and transfer of knowledge”

Dan Jaspers, Training and Development Manager at the International Sailing Federation said of the news, “When our Austrian MNA approached us at the Annual Conference in November last year and asked to be considered for Inspection by ISAF for the Accreditation of Recognized Training I was very happy. Not only is Austria a Land-locked country which is the first time ISAF can truly work to understand the ways in which our member in Austria deals with this on a geographical level as many others surely do but also for the fact that, much like France, Austria is perceived to be a developed country with its Coaching framework across all sports and to have the President and National Training Co-ordinator of the National Sailing Federation both wishing to have ISAF openly engage with them in this Inspection and to have ISAF offer feedback and recommendation, proves that this programme and the ‘Recognized Training’ endorsement of a National Scheme is something not simply set aside for our less developed members.

“I hope that the success of Austria will act as a catalyst for other countries who wish to be part of a growing list of ISAF MNAs that are now sharing their knowledge and working together to grow the understanding of what a successful training programme is at National level and how much can be learnt from others around the world, thus increasing the professionalization of the ‘grass roots’ delivery’ of our wonderful sport.”

If you think that your National Training Programme would benefit from the ISAF Recognized Training accreditation but are not sure of the process or for a full Austrian Sailing Federation Accreditation Report plus previous inspection reports then visit our dedicated page here http://www.sailing.org/training/32452.php

For updates on all ISAF initiatives and news from the wider world of sailing why not tell all of your friends about our highly commended ISAF Connect to Sailing Facebook page here

For all Training and Development related Twitter discussions why not join us – www.twitter.com/connect2sailing

For any other information on ISAF Initiatives that could help grow participation in the sport of sailing contact our Training and Development Manager, Dan Jaspers here.

Highlights from the fifth day of sailing at US SAILING's Rolex Miami OCR.

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