The ISSF Academy continues its groundbreaking work so far, less than a year after the announcement of the new institution, and has started 2025 with a bid to qualify more coaches in shooting sport.
But what does the ISSF Academy do?
The ISSF Academy is a premier coaching platform designed to support the developmental needs of shooting sport athletes across all proficiency levels.
It is the official ISSF training and coaching academy for Olympic shooting sport, with an end goal of enhancing development and producing new knowledge.
It caters to four different levels of coaching qualification - A, B, C and D, with D being the foundational course level.
As of now, the ISSF Academy has delivered D and C-level courses, with B courses to come in late 2025 and A courses to start in 2026 at the latest.
For D and C courses, a person can register for these via their Member Federation or individually, while B and A courses can only be attended via the Member Federations and require prior qualifications as well as active experience in coaching.
Para-shooting coaching courses for D and C levels are expected in 2025 too.
What is included in the D course?
The D course, intended for foundational level coaching, spans over 12 weeks and requires approximately five hours a week dedication to.
These are available for rifle, pistol and shotgun disciplines.
Before participating in the D course, one must successfully complete the World Anti-Doping Agency's Anti-Doping e-Learning (ADEL) course for high-performance coaches.
After finishing this course, they can download the certificate to verify completion of the ADEL.
Live online lectures will be conducted most weeks and recordings of these will be available for those unable to attend the live sessions.
Participants are also expected to visit a shooting range once a week, while tasks and resources will be managed through the online learning platform.
Coaching competency, prevention of all forms of harassment and anti-doping are key values taught during the course.
There is a focus on shooting techniques in the D course, as well as modules related to mental and physical training.
Following the conclusion of the course, there is a personal feedback session with an ISSF Academy instructor.
To find out more about the ISSF Academy, please find more information on their website.