Welcoming Our Newest Calisthenics Victoria Life Member!

Our newest Calisthenics Victoria Life Member has contributed to our sport over many years in the areas of coaching, adjudicating and examining.

She first joined the committee of the Victorian Calisthenics Coaches Association in 2005, taking on the role of registrar. She has continuously held this position since this time, including a period when she was living overseas during 2008-9 in Qatar then Japan in 2010-11. She has been instrumental in modernising this role, overseeing the transition from a manual paper-based system and spreadsheet-based listing to the Revolutionise Sport online database in 2016/17. She remains the go to person for assistance in managing the database and has an exceptional knowledge of the detailed requirements of membership of the organisation for coaches and the maintenance of their coaching accreditation.

Her contribution to the VCCA extends into coach education and training, where she has been a reliable and dependable presenter in the Level 1 training course and an assessor for Level 1 trainees. She continues to present the modules on Communication, Growth and Development, Organisation and Planning and the Role of the Coach. During the time of the original ACF cadet courses, she was instrumental in presenting the Role of the Cadet modules.

She has presented coach seminars at several the ACF Coaches Conferences interstate and in Victoria. In the past couple of years, she has also been travelling to South Australia to assist in coach education and examining.

In addition to her role on the VCCA committee, she has held the role of Registrar on the Australian Calisthenics Federation Coaching Council since 2012.

In late 2006 she began her training to become a pupil skills examiner and is now in the final stages of becoming a Grade 3 examiner. During this time, travelling extensively throughout Victoria to examine many candidates in both metropolitan Melbourne and the regional areas.

She is a member of the Australian Society of Calisthenic Adjudicators. She commenced cadet training in 2007, continuing this via distance education whilst away 2008-2011 then returned to face-to-face training in 2012 when she returned to Australia. Currently and advanced 2 adjudicator, she is preparing to present her research paper on “Impacts of high technology use in modern life on club swinging technique” after which time she will become an advanced 2 maintenance adjudicator.

As well as managing her commitments already listed, she is the Principal Coach of East Gippsland Calisthenics, the club she started in 2014.

In 2015, she was nominated and listed as a finalist for the Service to Calisthenics Volunteer of the Year Award.

In recent times she has embraced the use of technology to support the more than 1000 coaches in our community, and to connect with the committee. Living in regional Victoria, she originally participated in monthly meetings via telephone link, until the pandemic saw a growth in online video conferencing. She has presented coach modules online, and even acted as a remote Level 1 assessor via Zoom when in person sessions were not possible.

Calisthenics is more than a sport to this incredible woman it is a way of life. In the past few years she retired from her professional career and uses her time to give back to the community and to share the joy it has brought to her life.

Congratulations to Alexandra Otzen who has been awarded a Calisthenics Victoria Life Membership.