COLORADO SPRINGS - Coaching and umpiring clinics running in conjunction with the Rabobank Champions Challenge have met with overwhelming enthusiasm and have filled to capacity.

Scheduled for July 13-17 in Virginia Beach, Va., the National FIH Coaching Course will feature FIH Master Coach Tayyab Ikram as the lead expert. The current coaching director for the FIH and chair of the FIH Coaching Group, Ikram will be presenting his 50th FIH coaching course in Virginia Beach.

The course will also feature FIH master coach and former Germany and China women's national coach Rudiger Hannel.

Designed to give coaches the opportunity for international exchange, the course quickly filled with top-level USA college and university coaches as well as international coaches from the Pan American Hockey Federation including representatives from the Dominican Republic and Barbados.

The umpiring course scheduled for July 8-10 likewise filled to capacity with umpires seeking to enhance their skills and knowledge of the game. Featuring Jane Nockolds (ENG) as the lead clinician and Richard Kentwell (USA) as the moderator, the course will be conducted in traditional FIH fashion using the lates video technology with practical observation and analysis of matches during the Rabobank Champions Challenge. Emphasis is on current interpretations of today's game and the understanding of modern hockey.

Rabobank Champions Challenge is scheduled for July 8-16 in Virginia Beach and features the women's national teams from England, Japan, New Zealand, South Africa, Spain and the United States.