Our Aim

To assist Athletes in their long-term development, i.e. identification, qualification and finally preparation for Regional/Continental Championships and Games through different types of support and assistance including:

• Training of National Teams & Individual Athletes
• Training camps for Individual Athletes
• Scholarships in all FEI disciplines  

Here are some of the highlights from 2019 with a focus on the African continent and very much echoing the IOC President’s words, “It’s time for Africa”, when Dakar (SEN) won the bid to host the Youth Olympic Games 2022 – a historical milestone as the first Olympic event to be held on the African continent!

ACES Athletes’ Training Project for YOG 2022

The aim of this regional project is a Team medal for Africa at the Youth Olympic Games (YOG) 2022, in Dakar (SEN). This project has been initiated by the African Confederation for Equestrian Sports (ACES) with the assistance of FEI Solidarity and is open to all ACES Members, divided into Zone North and Zone South. It consists of four different phases. It is delivered by Technical Experts from Egypt and Zimbabwe. The project is open to Athletes aged 12, 13, 14 and 15 years old.

Phase 1: IDENTIFY (2019/2020)

Talent Identification sessions organised over three days, including two days of technical training sessions and one day of training competition on an FEI Jumping World Challenge Category B course plan. The first sessions have been organised in 2019 in Algeria and Tunisia.

The next sessions are planned in 2020 in Botswana, Kenya, Mauritius, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe for the South Zone and in Egypt, Ethiopia, Libya and Senegal for the North Zone.

Phase 2: SELECTION/QUALIFICATION (2021)

For the Selection phase, four training camps, two per Zone, will be organised on borrowed horses for the NFs best two Athletes ranked in the FEI Jumping World Challenge 2020 Categories A and/or B identified during the talent identification sessions.

Phase 3 & 4: PREPARATION (2022)

Following the NOCs qualification process based on the 2021 FEI Jumping World Challenge Category A Qualifying Competitions, the last step on the road to the YOG will be the preparation of the five Athletes (one per qualified NOC) and reserve Athletes that have successfully obtained their Certificate of Capability to attend a training camp on borrowed horses.

Focus on Talent Identification (TIS) in Algeria

A pilot Talent Identification session took place in Algeria in October 2019 under the leadership of:

• Jacqueline Braissant (SUI), FEI Solidarity Director
• Jean-Philippe Camboulives (FRA), FEI Development Officer
• Nazim Sebiane (ALG), host for the Event and Chair of the ACES Jumping Committee
• Charley Crockart (ZIM), FEI Solidarity Expert appointed for the delivery of TIS in South Africa
• Mohamed Khalifa (EGY), FEI Solidarity Expert appointed for the delivery of TIS in North Africa

The Algerian Equestrian Federation previously organised two selection phases starting  with 72 Athletes aged from 12-15 years to find the 15 best Athletes for the TIS.

The TIS was delivered over three days. The first day consisted of individual interviews of each Athlete accompanied by their Coaches and parents, followed by an afternoon session consisting of technical and flat work in order to assess their level, their results and also their goals. The second day focused on jumping sessions with technical exercises. The third and last day was about putting the Athletes to the test in a competition setting, using an FEI Jumping World Challenge Category B course with a prize-giving ceremony and a final individual debrief at the end.

South Africa Learner Education for the Advancement of Dressage (LEAD)

A project was developed to identify Dressage talents at equestrian school sport level in order to address the decreasing number of Dressage Athletes as a result of either leaving the sport entirely or switching to other disciplines when a higher level of training was required.

In order to ensure that equestrian school participation in Dressage feeds talented athletes into the adult discipline at a much higher rate, the main objectives of this project were to improve Dressage skills for youth at the school riding level and to educate the Coaches.

Three Coaches from Dressage South Africa were selected to run boot camps, which consisted of a theory session and two practical workshops with continued one-on-one coaching of the Athletes and where possible with their Coaches present.