AGU Media Office, Doha (QAT): The week-long FIG Academy for Level 1 Aerobic coaches, sponsored by the Asian Gymnastics Union, concluded at the Hanoi Aerobic Gymnastics Club in Hanoi, Vietnam, on Sunday.

The technical lectures were conducted at the Quan Ngua Gymnasium, Van Cao Str, Ba Dinh, with a total 19 coaches took part while with seven from the host nation attended the programme.

Indonesia sent four trainers while India (three), Iran (two) while Japan, Mongolia and Uzbekistan had one coach each at the training.

The coach education programme, which expanded with the worldwide introduction of the Age Group Development and Competition Programme in 2011 and entered an agreement with the IOC Olympic Solidarity Programme to combine courses in 2014, is unique in the world of amateur sports.

It enjoys an enormous amount of administrative and financial support, not only from the FIG, but also from the many federations whose contributions in hosting, teaching and helping to develop the curriculum is vital to the great success of the programme.

The first FIG Academy, which completed 15 years, was first held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in 2002 with 43 coaches from Malaysia, Thailand, India, Singapore, Philippines, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Vietnam and Pakistan.