The Uganda Olympic Committee (UOC) on Tuesday officially launched the Coaches Certification Programme organized by the Uganda Modern Pentathlon Federation (UMPF) at Kampala Parents’ School. The exercise will run up to Saturday, 4th February 2023.
The exercise facilitated by Egyptian instructor Yasser Hefny will cover aspects regarding preparing athletes for events, organizing trainings, organizing events, coaching techniques that will enable coaches dispatch knowledge to athletes and other basics. Participants will receive Level 1 Certificates.
While addressing media on Tuesday, UMPF President Simon Peter Komakech revealed that this is the first ever coaches’ training they are holding in the country ever since he introduced of the sport to Uganda in 2017.
“We have been looking forward to this training for a while now and we are happy that it has finally happened. I believe that the awareness and technical knowledge of the game will help us attract more people to the sport,” Komakech said adding that this is a stepping stone to new things for the game that is still in its infancy in the country.
Yasser Hefny who is an Egyptian pentathlete with lots of silverware says that he is happy to share his knowledge with the Ugandan budding coaches and he believes that if a few things are put in place, the sport will flourish in the country.
“If the facilities and mentality is there, Uganda in the future will be a big power house (of Pentathlon) in Africa,” Hefny said adding that the participants are quickly grasping the knowledge he is giving them.
Elijah Njawuzi who is an administrator with UOC officially launched the event on behalf of his President Donald Rukare. He said that they take capacity building very seriously and hopes that the participants will utilize the initiative for the benefit of the sport.
“This is still a growing sport in the country and capacity building is very vital for its growth. One of the things we try to enforce as a NOC is capacity building…we hope that this coaches will use the knowledge to the best of their abilities,” Njawuzi said.
He has urged UMPF to start organizing competitions especially at grassroots level, notably in schools in order to ensure that the sport sprouts throughout the country because there is a lot of talent out there.
The modern pentathlon is an Olympic sport consisting of fencing (one-touch épée), freestyle swimming, equestrian show jumping, pistol shooting, and cross country running. The event is inspired by the traditional pentathlon held during the ancient Olympics.
The modern pentathlon was first held in 1912, and its rules have changed several times over the years. The latest structure, as of the 2020 Olympics, consists of three separate events for fencing, swimming, and equestrian, which determine each athlete’s starting time in the final event. The last event, called the laser-run, alternates four legs of laser pistol shooting followed by an 800 m run (for 3200 m in total).
The sport has been a feature of the Summer Olympic Games since 1912, despite several attempts to remove it. A world championships for modern pentathlon has been held annually since 1949.
The governing body, Union Internationale de Pentathlon Moderne (UIPM), administers the international sport in more than 90 countries.
