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ÔTHE COURSE NOT ONLY HELPS THE NOC BUT THE INDIVIDUAL AND HIS OR HER SPORTS FEDERATION AS WELLÕSANJAYE GOBOODUN, MEMOS VII GRADUATE & DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL OLYMPIC ACADEMY OF MAURITIUSOne such training session took place in Lausanne in early February. The eight candidates were from Africa and held a range of (mostly voluntary) sporting positions in their home countries, from federation general secretary to communications adviser. ÒI have management training, but management in sports organisations is not the same as private organisations like banks,Ó said Alia Ourimi, an administrator from the Tunisian Judo Federation.Ourimi undertook ASMC training herself before completing her Executive Masters in Sport Organisations Management (MEMOS), for which she received an Olympic Solidarity scholarship. ÒThe ASMC and MEMOS enriched me in sports and I was able to put the theory into practice as part of our event organising committee. I now know all the stages of organising an event on an international scale.ÓFor the past five years, the Tunisian NOC has staged ASMC, and Ourimi is anxious to pass on the knowledge and experience she has gained. ÒThe federations recruit new staff almost every year, so you have to get everyone on the same wavelength,Ó she said. ÒI will help lead the course this year as a course facilitator at the beginning, and after that as a programme director.ÒThe feedback from the courses is almost always positive. There are those who were hired by federations or by professional clubs after completing these courses. A former colleague of mine entered the national football federation as soon as she finished the course. She now works as assistant to the president.ÓOn training sessions for programme directors such as the one in Lausanne, candidates are trained to develop the course programme, manage logistics, promote the course within the national sports system, select participants and deliver the content. Above all, however, they are trained to act as leaders in the development of a learning community, a platform for sharing of knowledge, experiences and ideas among the course participants. After the first two days of the training Florent Rwigema, Deputy General-Secretary at the Federation of East Africa Secondary School Sports Association in Rwanda, said: ÒMy impressions are very good. What I learned is that sports management is a chronological process. In the past we thought we could start by thinking about marketing or finance but, with the presentations we followed and the discussions we had yesterday, it is clear that management must be systematic.ÓSanjaye Goboodun, one of the course mentors, is a trained chemical engineer and former athlete. Director of the National Olympic Academy of Mauritius, in 2009 he sat among the candidates at a training session like the one he was helping to run in Lausanne. Since then, he has overseen a number of courses in his own country, which have been highly successful. ÒAt the beginning, the delegates said it was too hard but by the end they were saying, ÔWow, we never thought it would be like this,Õ and theyÕre already looking forward to attending another module,Ó he said. ÒMany of them started just as members of their federation and are now occupying leading positions like president or secretary general. There are participants who are now recognised by the International Federations, so the course not only helps the NOC but the individual and his or her sports federation as well. For a small African nation like ours, these types of courses have really brought something for us. ÒI know in Europe or the Americas various types of sports management courses are accessible through universities or other educational programmes. But in Mauritius we donÕt have any specific courses targeting sport management, and this course now is bringing a change towards sports management and how to manage a federation or how to manage an event. I believe this is true for all of the small NOCs like ours.ÓGoboodunÕs fellow mentor in Lausanne was Stavri Bello, Secretary General of the Albanian National Olympic Committee for the past 19 years, a period of great transition in his country. ÒWhen I began work within the NOC, I realised there was a real need for this type of training,Ó he said, Òbecause this type of training was not dispensed OLYMPIC SOLIDARITYOLYMPIC REVIEW 65