CONGRESS REPORT
© by IAAF
The 28th European Athletics
Coaches Association Congress
Sofia, Bulgaria
The Bulgarian National Sports Academy Vasil Levski – venue for the 28th EACA Congress
Introduction
One hundred fifty-two coaches – 78 from
Bulgaria and 74 from 29 other countries,
including Canada, Guatemala and the USA –
took part in the 28th annual congress of the
European Athletics Coaches Association
(EACA) in Sofia, Bulgaria, 4-6 November
2005. The theme of the congress was “The
Winning Difference” and the packed pro-
gramme of activities featured main presenta-
tions by eight top speakers.
The congress was financed and organised by
the Bulgarian National Sports Academy (NSA)
Vasil Levski. The European Athletic Association
New Studies in Athletics • no. 1/2006
(EAA) provided a grant to the organisers and it
gave scholarships, covering the congress fee,
accommodation and meals for one participant
each, to its Member Federations.
Simultaneous translation between Bulgari-
an, English and Russian for the main presen-
21:1; 65-67, 2006
tations was provided by the IAAF Regional
Development Centre Moscow.
Bubka award
The highlight of the Congress Opening Cer-
emony was the award of Doctor Honoris Causa
to Sergey Bubka (UKR) by Prof. Lachezar Dim-
itrov, the Rector the NSA, and Prof. Petr Bonov.
After receiving the award, the world record
holder in the pole vault and IAAF Council
Member spoke about his athletics career, from
his beginnings as a schoolboy to becoming the
world and Olympic champion.
Main presentations
Applying adaption theory to achieving
performance excellence
Daniela Dasheva (BUL)
Dasheva, who is a Professor of Sport
Science at the NSA, focused on two aspects of
65
 Congress report

training theory: how an athlete’s body adapts

to increasing training loads and stress as a
component of the training process. Ideas pre-
sented on the first aspect included detail of
the stages (and constituent phases of each
stage) of the adaptation process. With regard
to the second aspect, she defined stress,
detailed the body’s observable reactions to
training stress and made recommendations
related to the application of stress in the
annual and multi-annual planning of training
programmes.

Sergey Bubka accepts his award

Sportological basis of applied adaptation
theory in athletics practice
Mihail Bachvarov (BUL)

Prof Bachvarov, who is also a highly recog-

nised coach, started by discussing the con-
cept of “Sportology”, which is a field of
study synthesising knowledge of training
theory, biology, sport medicine, biomechan-
ics, sport psychology and other disciplines.
He then covered the methodological aspects
of applying adaptation theory including the
basic paradigm, different approaches to the
microcycle and peculiarities in the adapta-
tion process. He concluded by introducing EACA president Frank Dick
Specialised Variety Training Theory (SVTT),
which he described as an approach to con- become involved in athletics at as early an
trolling and overcoming training plateaus age as possible and praised the IAAF Kids
and speed barriers. Athletics programme as an ideal tool for
this purpose.

From junior star to elite performer

Vadim Zelichnok (RUS)
The Director of the RDC Moscow drew on
his experience as Chief Coach of both jun-
ior and senior teams in the USSR and Rus-
sia to address the question of how to con-
vert successful performances at youth and
junior level into success at the senior level
Training at medium altitude
Petr Bonov (BUL) and Dane Korica (SCG)
This presentation started with a general
history of training and competition at altitude
and details of Bulgarian experiences in this
field. The speakers, both sport scientists and
experienced coaches, then addressed the
New Studies in Athletics • no. 1/2006

in athletics. His presentation covered prac- process of adaptation to training at altitudes

tical aspects (such as the best age to start
serious training, when to start specialisa-
tion and the issue of changing coaches) and
detailed a number of case histories to illus-
trate his points. He concluded by saying
that it was necessary for children to
66
of 1800 – 2000m and practical aspects of
using such training to improve work capacity
and performance. They concluded by outlin-
ing eight methodological principles for apply-
ing medium altitude training to an athlete’s
training programme.

Practice for pressure
Edvin Ozolin (RUS)
Ozolin introduced his presentation by
reviewing the importance of the psychologi-
cal dimension of top-level athletic perform-
ance. He described the elements and how
psychological stability could be developed
and said that he believed the coach was the
best psychologist for the athlete. He then
focused on the coach-athlete relationship,
giving practical advice on managing the
relationship, motivation, making the neces-
sary analysis and dealing with problems. The
presentation included a number of examples
from Ozolin’s personal experience.
Regeneration and recovery
Frank Dick (GBR)
The EACA President outlined the process of
adaptation to stress noting that at any time
human beings and athletes needed to cope
with the complex effect of multiple stres-
sors. He said that performance improvement
was not possible unless the recovery and
regeneration were well managed within the
training programme and listed a number of
activities that could be applied to both
intra-unit and inter-unit situations. He also
discussed the need for systems to monitor
cumulative stress and provide an early warn-
ing system to protect athletes from the dan-
ger of overload when they are in an incom-
plete state of recovery.
Discipline workshops
Between the main presentations, the
congress participants joined one of five
event group workshops. The workshop met
for five sessions each to focus on the fol-
lowing themes in relation to their specific
New Studies in Athletics • no. 1/2006
disciplines:
• Monitoring the Training Process
• Practical Training for Youth Performers
• Practical Training for Elite Senior Performers
• Planning for Quality Consistency
• Protecting Athletes from Stress Related
Injury and Illness
Congress report
Each workshop was led by a team of two
top experts, one Bulgarian and one from
abroad:
• Sprints & Hurdles – Mihail Bachvarov
(BUL) and Loren Seagrave (USA)
• Middle- & Long-Distance –Ilia Popov
(BUL) and Timo Vuorimaa (FIN)
• Jumps –Ognian Maladinov (BUL) and
Wolfgang Ritzdorf (GER)
• Throws –Stefan Stoykov (BUL) and Ekkart
Arbeit (GER)
• Combined Events –Bojidar Shishkov (BUL)
and Jitka Vinduskova (CZE)
Memorandum of understanding
The congress also saw the formal signing of
a Memorandum of Understanding between
the EACA and the EAA. Under the terms of
the agreement, the EAA will continue its
financial assistance for the operation of the
EACA and the head coaches of all EAA Mem-
ber Federations will receive membership of
the EACA.
Conclusion
The organisation of the congress seemed
very efficient and informal feedback collected
from the participants on the contents and
speakers was generally very positive. The
quality of the workshop presentations and
discussion were cited as particular strong
points while the only criticism expressed was
that the packed programme meant some of
the planned activities had to be cut short due
to time pressure.
The next EACA Congress will take place in
Dublin, Ireland, 2-5 November 2006.
Reported by Bill Glad
Details on the presentations in and information on
the 2006 EACA Congress are available from the
EACA website, which can be accessed through
www.iaafacademy.com.
67