Top Russian Boxing Professor Visits Institute of Sport Coach Support Programme

September 30th 2012: Pete Taylor, IABA, Daragh Sheridan, PEP Programme Manager, Irish Institute of Sport, Prof. Vasiliy Filimonov, Billy Walsh, IABA pictured at a PEP mentorship support session.

The Irish Institute of Sport is delighted to announce that the high performance coaching team in the Irish Amateur Boxing Association have completed a knowledge exchange seminar with a top boxing professor from Russia. The support forms part of the Institute of Sport's Pursuit of Excellence Programme which is dedicated to the development of high performance coaching.

'Professor Filimonov is a leading global expert on high performance boxing. His philosophy and expertise surrounding high performance training design and implementation has assisted myself, Pete and Zauri in testing our current training practices. We are delighted to receive support from the Institute of Sport in assisting our coaching team to develop using this informal based approach. As a result we can assess global level expertise that we can then use to the benefit of Irish boxing' stated Billy Walsh, Head Coach, High Performance Unit, Irish Amateur Boxing Association.

Institute of Sport PEP participant Zauri Antia was critical in identifying and organizing Professor Filimanov's visit. Over a 5 day period Professor Filimanov completed the following mentorship activities:

1. Knowledge Exchange Event: Focused exchange of views on training practices, diet, weight control and the psychology of boxing.

2. Practical Peer Review: Peer observation of current coaching practices by observing and providing feedback during live training sessions involving boxers and coaches attached to the IABA's high performance programme.

Knowledge Exchange Session: The IABA High Performance Coaching team engaged in an exchange of knowledge with Prof. Vasiliy Filimonov