Young Riders Academy 2018 begins in Arezzo

Lugano, March 27, 2018 – From Friday April 6th to Sunday April 8th, the Selection Panel will meet again in Arezzo to evaluate the first group of riders. The second selection meeting will take place next month in Redefin. For this 5th edition twelve National Federations – Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Russia, Switzerland, United Kingdom – have entered a total of twenty six good riders.

The Selection Panel is confirmed to be represented by Jean Maurice Bonneau, Dirk Demeersman, Emile Hendrix and Sven Holmberg as Sport Manager.

The program starts on Friday with the official presentation; after that the selection is evaluating riding in two different classes,  140 and 145 qualifying on Saturday and GPs on Sunday. Apart from the sport, all athletes will face an individual interview to assess personal skills on different topics as equestrian knowledge, motivation and communication. 

Today YRA is at its 5th edition and it had collected many accomplishments: 35 riders had been trained, several of them are now professionals, others had been included in different working segments, few are still athletes.

In 2014, when founded, YRA represented a completely new concept for promising riders, with a broad new formula to help young talents in becoming future professionals. “Today, after 5 years, we can claim to be extremely satisfied” remarks Breido Count zu Rantzau as member of the Board. “ At the beginning of this adventure we would never have believed to collect such results: several medals at the YR European Championships and, this summer, four riders have represented their countries during the Senior European Championships in Gothenburg” continues Count zu Rantzau “ working with young talents is truly exciting, somehow it makes us feel younger too! “

“Good luck to all these new talents” wishes Eleonora Ottaviani, together with Sven Holmberg.

The young Riders Academy is a program conceived for European talented young show jumpers, under the patronage of the European Equestrian Federation (EEF), with the cooperation of the International Jumping Riders Club (IJRC) and the support of Rolex.

Founded in 2014 by Athenaeum, a non-profit association, the program will give talented riders between the ages of 18 and 23 the chance to get six months of training and boarding at a well-known professional stable. On top of that, professional education in communication, business and economics, veterinary and legal practice related to show jumping. The objective is to develop future champions as well as potential managers of this sport.

For further information:

[email protected]

www.ridersacademy.eu