25 participants complete FIVB Beach Volleyball Coaching Course led by Spanish legend Javier Bosma
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A Beach Volleyball Coaching Course run under the auspices of the International Volleyball Federation (FIVB) was held at the Rimi Olympic Centre in Riga from April 1 to 5, with 2004 Olympic silver medallist and three-time Olympian Javier Bosma from Spain as the main speaker. International referee and Latvia’s 2024 Beach Volleyball Referee of the Year Egīls Tišanovs did lead one of the lectures as well.
The course was attended by 25 participants – 18 from Latvia, three from Lithuania, two from Slovenia, and one from Spain and Ireland apiece. They all received FIVB certificates for successfully completing the course and passing both the theoretical and practical exams.
Among the participants there were also notable (former) athletes and coaches such as Mārtiņš Pļaviņš, Edgars Točs, Toms Šmēdiņš, Mihails Samoilovs, Aleksandrs Solovejs, Sandris Andrejevs, and Marta Ozoliņa.
The theoretical and practical lessons of the course covered topics ranging from the structure of the FIVB and the history of Beach Volleyball, continuing with warm-ups and physical exercises, technical elements, the philosophy and role of the coach, training methods and video analysis, and the organisation of Beach Volleyball competitions.
“One of the things that I will remember most from this course is the care I received since my arrival in Riga. Also, the good communication with the Latvian Volleyball Federation (LVF) employees who were responsible for the course, and certainly the contribution and high level of the participants. They worked hard and demonstrated excellent knowledge of Beach Volleyball,” says Bosma. “I found it interesting that in some cases the participants tried to question the interpretation or explanation of the situations we discussed, because players should not blindly follow what the coach tells them if it is not reasoned and justified.”
“I have also witnessed the impressive number of children who play Beach Volleyball in one hall. I was told that there are five such halls with 27 courts in Riga alone. This is a great foundation for developing great players, as well as an opportunity for great coaches to work,” Bosma emphasises.
The 55-year-old Spaniard, who played in world-class tournaments from 1992 to 2006, is one of the most outstanding athletes in the history of the sport. In three Olympic Games he won a silver medals in Athens together with Pablo Herrera. He previously had finished in joint fifth place in Atlanta (1996) as well as in Sydney (2000). Bosma also has two European Championship silver medals to his name from the 1994 and 1999 editions of EuroBeachVolley.
In 2006, he earned a master’s degree in business administration in Barcelona, and three years later he completed a Level III Coaching Course organised by the Royal Spanish Volleyball Federation.