Equestrian Coaches Sweep The Board
Monday, December 12, 2005
EQUESTRIAN COACHES SWEEP THE BOARD
Equestrian coaches picked up more awards than any other sport at the Sports Coach UK annual awards ceremony on 7 December at the Dorchester Hotel in Park Lane, London. The Princess Royal, patron of scUK, presented British Eventing’s coaches Yogi Breisner, Tracie Robinson and Kenneth Clawson with prestigious Mussabini Medals, awarded to coaches who, through their outstanding contribution, help UK performers achieve success on the world stage. At the same ceremony, England’s Cricket Coach, Duncan Fletcher was named male coach of the year for his part in helping England to their first Ashes success for 18 years.
Yogi Breisner was appointed British Eventing World Class Performance Manager in 2000 ahead of the Sydney Olympics and since then our Senior Eventing Team have collected 13 medals at Championship level including the fantastic three medal haul at Athens and double gold at the European Championships at Blenheim. He also holds the post of National Coach for British Eventing.
Involved in equestrianism for over 40 years, Kenneth Clawson has been show jump coach for the Senior Eventing squad for eight years and is pivotal to our medal success – his last minute words of wisdom have ensured many a clear round. Tracie Robinson has been with the squad just four years but has made a dramatic difference in the all-important dressage phase, vital for any team perform to medal-winning standards.
Colin Wilson, the BEF’s Consultant Head of Sports Development was at the awards ceremony and comments: “We are all delighted and very proud of the achievements of Yogi, Kenneth and Tracie, in helping our riders to win so many medals. These awards demonstrate that we continue to build the profile of equestrianism across sport as a whole. We hope to be winning more such awards for coaching in the future as we continue to implement our new coaching strategy across the Federation at all levels.”
British Eventing’s Chief Executive Peter Durrant was also at the event and said: “It’s fitting testament that Yogi, Kenneth and Tracie have been recognised in this way and alongside other sport coaches from a range of disciplines. The hours they all put into our horses and riders to extract the best performances possible is proof of their dedication, skill and aptitude. Long may the team successes continue under their coaching.”
