Successful Level 1-2 OCR Coaching Training organized by HOCRA

On 11/18-19, 2023, the first basic OCR training course took place in Budapest, organized by the Hungarian OCR Sport Association (HOCRA). Coaches from many parts of the country, who work in different fields (with one thing in common: OCR is close to their hearts) came to the two-day training course. Some of the participants are dealing with and/or are in relation with modern pentathlon as well.

The Federation’s Board members and Professional (Coaching) Committee-members have developed a training program that is also unique in international terms, for which a credit and license system has also been developed. At levels that are built on each other, coaches can gain deeper and deeper knowledge, and at the same time, they are entitled to more and more rights guaranteed by the Federation.

The condition for participating in the basic OCR coaching course is an already existing, at least intermediate level coaching qualification, as well as recognition of proficiency in OCR-sport from HOCRA. After participating in the theoretical lectures and practical lessons of the course, the participants had to pass a written exam to obtain the license card. The diploma and the license card are already in the hands of the 20 new OCR-coaches, but in order to continue their activities, they must also obtain 20 credit points at the Association of Hungarian Coaches within a year, or participate in a further one-day training organized by HOCRA.

The agenda of the training:

The backbone of the training program was provided by the materials of World Obstacle Level 2, however, the Federation supplemented this with many additional, useful presentations within its own jurisdiction. During the weekend, the coaches were able to master the materials of the following modules and were able to witness excellent presentations:

Introduction, Clarification of the Educational System (Zsolt Stépán, Zsófia Páder)
HOCRA-specific module (Zsolt Stépán)
Athlete Consultations and Inductions (Zsófia Páder)
Health and Safety in the Training Environment (Zsófia Páder)
Sports Law (dr. Erzsébet Tóth)
Civil Liability, Video and Audio Recording, Data Protection (dr. Judit Maklári-Papp)
Anti-doping (Hungarian Anti-doping Group)
First Aid (Dr. Balázs Demeter)
OCR Security Technical Presentation (Tamás Rozina)
Trainer or Coach? Communication Basics — Introduction to Coaching Processes (Zsófia Páder)
Principles of OCR Technique and Strength (Zsófia Páder)
Principles of Running Technique and Fitness (Zsolt Stépán)
Planning and Instructing Training Sessions (Zsófia Páder)
OCR in Practice

It is important to point out that coaches with a „C” license in Hungary can only work with adult, amateur athletes — professional and junior OCR coaching activities require (ongoing) higher education.

What’s next?

According to the Federation’s plans, the mandatory annual (free) 1-day training for „C” licensed coaches will be held in the spring of 2024, and the next basic training course will start in the fall of 2024.

In addition to the university-level (higher-level) OCR coaching (BSc) that started in September 2023, the Federation is currently negotiating the secondary (1 year) training program, and the launch of the university Master’s degree is also included in the medium-term plans.

Without them…

We would like to thank the developers of the program and the lecturers (Zsolt Stépán, Tamás Rozina, Dr. Judit Maklári-Papp, Dr. Zsófia Páder, Dr. Erzsébet Tóth, Dr. Balázs Demeter, László Király) for their work, and we congratulate to the coaches who participated in the course for a successful exam, thank you for your perseverance and active attention during the two long days!