{"id":3225,"date":"2026-02-12T18:53:23","date_gmt":"2026-02-12T18:53:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/3225\/"},"modified":"2026-02-12T18:53:23","modified_gmt":"2026-02-12T18:53:23","slug":"from-athlete-to-coach-inaugural-accelerator-programme-starts-in-lausanne","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/3225\/","title":{"rendered":"From athlete to coach: Inaugural accelerator programme starts in Lausanne"},"content":{"rendered":"

The World Archery Excellence Centre<\/a> has officially launched its new coach accelerator programme, welcoming four coaches from Bulgaria, Finland, Ireland and Lithuania this week in Lausanne.<\/p>\n

All four participants are former competitive athletes. Kerrie Leonard<\/a> competed at the Tokyo 2020<\/a> and Paris 2024<\/a> Paralympics and Taru Kuoppa<\/a> took part in the Rio 2016 Olympic Games<\/a>, while Teodora Ivanova<\/a> and Paulina Alakvosciene<\/a> complete this year\u2019s quartet.<\/p>\n

Leonard\u2019s participation marks a significant milestone for the sport, as she is the first wheelchair coach to receive Olympic Solidarity support to attend a coaching education programme at the Excellence Centre.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen this chance came, and I didn\u2019t have to worry about covering the costs, I felt extremely seen \u2013 not just myself, but my organisation,\u201d said Leonard, reflecting on the opportunity. \u201cI see myself as an extension of representing Archery Ireland<\/a>, and I want to bring back everything I learn here to help develop the sport in my country.\u201d<\/p>\n

The aspiring Irish coach, who retired from competition during the summer, said the transition into coaching felt natural.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d love to coach the Irish team \u2013 to be there with them at competitions, helping them perform at their best. I think I\u2019m a good listener and I always have the best interest of the archer at heart.\u201d<\/p>\n

Leonard also spoke about the importance of visibility and lived experience in para archery, recalling that her first coach was a wheelchair user.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat gave me confidence straight away,\u201d she said. \u201cIt showed me there was a place for me in the sport.\u201d<\/p>\n

She now hopes to pass that same belief on to others.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I can help bring more people into the sport and drive standards even higher, breaking down barriers between Olympic and Paralympic archery, I would be extremely proud \u2013 that\u2019s the legacy I want to leave.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The World Archery Excellence Centre has officially launched its new coach accelerator programme, welcoming four coaches from Bulgaria,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3226,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[9],"tags":[2818,2819,3070,94,2817],"class_list":["post-3225","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-lausanne","tag-coaching","tag-development-projects","tag-excellence-centre","tag-lausanne","tag-olympic-solidarity"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3225","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3225"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3225\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3226"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3225"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3225"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3225"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}