Cycling South Africa is calling all women who are interested in attending the next Sport Director (DS) course, which will be held at the UCI World Cycling Centre in Aigle, Switzerland in November, to submit their applications. The UCI has offered a limited number of scholarships to women registering for the course.
Cycling SA would like to endorse one application to the DS course and if applicants would like to be considered for this endorsement, they will need to send their application through to Cycling SA Secretary General, Greg van Heerden secretarygeneral@cyclingsa.com by 18 September 2015 for consideration by the Road and Women’s Commissions. The most promising applicant will receive a letter of endorsement from the Federation to attend the course.
“When you call a Sport Directors’ meeting at a women’s event, you still see a majority of men in that meeting,” observes UCI Women’s Cycling Coordinator Andrea Marcellini. “We want to provide women with the opportunity to stay in their sport on retiring from competition.”
Former rider Rachel Heal continues working in cycling. Photo credit: © Sean Robinson/www.uci.ch.
“I am happy to see more and more women riders who stay involved in cycling. The sport is definitely becoming less male dominated, and women have to see that they can also use their experience and skills to manage a team or become a DS,” said professional rider and member of the UCI Athletes’ Commission, Iris Slappendel.
Cycling SA Women’s Commission Director, Lise Olivier, was thrilled at the news. “The latest move by the UCI to offer scholarships to women to attend the DS course is yet another confirmation of their commitment towards women’s cycling. We have seen a conscious effort to promote women’s cycling from Brian Cookson, President of the UCI, who is setting the tone all the way from the top.
“Locally Mr. William Newman, President of Cycling South Africa, has echoed the efforts of the UCI. Under his leadership the Cycling SA Women’s Commission was started to help address any issues relating to women’s cycling. Mr. Newman as well as Mike Bradley, General Manager of Cycling SA, continue to put great emphasis on the development of women’s cycling and have shown their commitment with sending a National Road Team to participate in Europe for the first time in many years as well as playing a role in securing UCI 1.1 status for the Momentum 947 Cycle Challenge.”
The Sport Director courses at the World Cycling Centre enables all those who have chosen this career to enhance their expertise. The 2015 training programme is available to Sport Directors across all divisions as well as those aiming to join the profession.
The programme provides three different options to obtain the UCI Sport Director Diploma and registration as a UCI Sport Director: a three-and-a-half day course for existing DSs working for UCI WorldTeams or UCO Pro-Continental teams; an eight-day course for current or aspiring DSs across all divisions; and an exam only for those who feel they already have sufficient knowledge and experience to pass the exam.
The 2015 DS course will be held from 10-17 November and applications along with a CV and motivation must be submitted to Cycling SA Secretary General, Greg van Heerden secretarygeneral@cyclingsa.com by 18 September 2015. Only one nomination will be sent to the UCI.
More details can be found here: http://www.uci.ch/mm/Document/News/Training/17/05/95/Sportsdirectors-programme2015_English.pdf.
Awesome initiative!