The ISSF Academy continues to deliver its C course and its students every week get closer to a new level of certification.
One of those undertaking the rifle and pistol coaching course is Ioannis Ktistakis from Greece, who is now a national coach for Cyprus in the disciplines.
Ktistakis has a strong background in sport as a former athlete himself, while graduating with a Bachelor’s Degree in Physical Education and Sport Science at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens. He then received a Master’s Degree in High Performance Sport at the National Sport Academy Vassil Levski, in Sofia, Bulgaria and a Master’s in Business Administration and Management at the Hellenic Mediterranean University in Crete.
For Ktistakis, this course has acted as a means to progress up to the B course – which includes practical lessons – and he believes it is important to receive certification to advance his career prospects.
“If I'm going to look in another country to be a coach, I might need that one [license] to be hired,” he said.
The Greek started with the D course last year and waited around six weeks between the completion of this and the start of the C course which he said was “a smooth transition for me”.
For Ktistakis, who previously coached Para shooting athletes in Greece, the C course has been a comfortable level of learning due to his expertise in sports science, and he is already planning to undertake the B course once his current one has been completed.
He also praised ISSF Academy Director, Vesa Nissinen, for his approach, constantly seeking feedback from participants on how the courses could be improved for future editions.
“He always says to us, give us feedback because he looks to me like he wants to work with me,” added Ktistakis.
Ktistakis is happy to praise the instructors and coaches during the courses too, seeing it as a chance to network with others as he continued to improve his level of certification.
He now is ready to focus on finishing his current course with an eye on participating in the inaugural B course from September.