Dressage rider and trainer, Ferdi Eilberg, is set to re-join the equestrian World Class Programme as High Performance Coach to the para-dressage Podium and Podium Potential squads.
No stranger to the World Class Programme, having previously worked with eventing and both para-dressage and dressage squads over a number of years, Ferdi will join existing coaches Angela Weiss and Nina Venables, who will extended their current responsibilities to provide coaching support, alongside Ferdi, to the whole para-dressage programme.
The trio, who collectively have a wealth of knowledge in Paralympic sport, will deliver a supportive, collaborative and performance-driven coaching programme. This approach aims to support athletes and their home coaches to develop their potential to deliver on the field of play and ensures solid and correct training programmes are in place across the programme.
Para-Dressage Performance Manager, Sarah Armstrong says: “The para-dressage team has enjoyed a golden journey over many years and I would like to thank both Michel Assouline for his contribution to athlete successes during this period and Erik Mackechnie, who has worked tirelessly with the Podium Potential squad in supporting the growth of the talent pool. I wish them both well in their new ventures.
“Change brings new opportunities and challenges. The Tokyo cycle will have its own challenges and the formation of this strong team of coaches will underpin the development of athletes in their quest to consistently deliver personal bests. This is a very exciting time for the sport, with new combinations delivering fabulous results on the world stage and more established athletes developing new horses with WEG 2018 and beyond in mind.”
Ferdi added: “I’m very much looking forward to being involved with the squad again; there’s a new system developing, with more personal trainers involved, and it’s important that we can bring that all together. There is a greater demand for horses and the competition is getting harder all the time; there are quite a lot of new combinations developing which is exciting to see.”