CAT Course 2009
We have made an interview with Paolo Volpara, Senior Observer, regarding the upcoming Cat Course and asked him some questions in order to learn more about CAT membership
Q – Can you tell us what CAT course is?
P.V. - The Certified Advanced Training is a program designed by the Institute of Advanced Motoring for the qualification of Observers capable of monitoring, mentoring and supporting fellow riders in their road to high competence in biking. The program was introduced in Turkey in 2005 and, as the only affiliated group of IAM in this country, we conducted CAT courses in 2007 and we will open again in 2009.
Q. What exactly is a CAT Rider and what they do?
P.V. - The Riders that successfully passes the CAT course and examination is qualified to teach the RoadCraft system and help fellow bikers in understanding and applying the System of advanced motorcycling.
Q. As I know the candidates should be a legal member of OMM and full IAM members; are there other criteria you are looking for?
P.V. - In cooperation with Jon Taylor, examiner of IAM in Turkey, we are looking not only for competent riders but, more important, for riders with integrity and generosity. Integrity is needed to evaluate themselves and the others in a fair manner while keeping the desire to constantly improve. Generosity is a prerequisite since the IAM observers provide a service to the biking community without remuneration and with the dedication of long hours on the saddle.
Q – What is the tuition? Are they only classroom or road?
P.V. - The CAT program has two parts: the education period comprises lessons on pedagogy, communication, RoadCraft System and observation skills. This is done in classroom sessions and with “on the road” practice. The second part is the examination that is done both on the road and on classroom.
Q – Who are the trainers/instructors/examiners?
P.V. - The CAT 2009 course will be conducted from January by me as Senior Observer with the help of OMM ARA IAM Observers Engin Balaban, Omer Durusel and Ugur Ertekin. These three top riders will also take a Senior Observer test at the end of the course to be able in the future to run additional CAT courses.
Q – Who are the delegates taking part to the CAT 2009?
P.V. - All the IAM full members in Turkey were invited to the course during the autumn of 2008 and eight of them were selected to attend the 2009 CAT. From OMM Istanbul: Yigit Guler, Namik Kutlu, Gokhan Demir. From OMM Izmir: Serhat Kilavuz, Haluk Hizlan, Zafer Akçay, Faruk Lokmaci. From OMM Ankara: Tufan Ilkkutlu
Q – These candidates will probably go through a tough time until the examination. What do you thing their motivations are?
P.V. - It is difficult to go inside people motivation but we hope that the reasons for participating are the desire to improve, within the Turkish biking community, the standard of quality in riding while discovering the best in themselves. The “authority” that comes from passing the CAT course is not a badge of honor but a great responsibility in serving fellow riders. They will join IAM Observers qualified in previous CAT courses such as Hakan Erman, Engin Balaban, Kaan Tuna, Armağan Albayrak and Mert Volkan. This is a very tough company to be with: these riders offered a splendid service instructing on the RoadCraft system hundreds of Turkish bikers and covering thousands of miles, in any weather and conditions, behind riders wanting to improve competence and safety.
Q – With new CAT Trainers on the way, I believe OMM will be able to spread training to more riders in Turkey? Is that right?
P.V. - Jon’s and mine desire has always been to expand knowledge in advanced riding in Turkey. Since OMM and ARA beginning ten years ago we worked to “turkified” the tuition system publishing the RoadCraft manual in Turkish, affiliating OMM to I.A.M., qualifying riders for training in Turkish language. CAT is the fundamental part of this effort. Since 2006 we have I.A.M. Observers who can conduct ARA session in Turkish and the dimension of ARA activities in 2008 show that the plan is working: more than 1.000 riders attended Theory sessions, more than 150 took ARA Control course developed with the strong support by EMOK, 150 riders were with us on the ARA-Road workshops and more than 300 on RoadCraft rides. Since the beginning 950 bikers got a qualification in ARA road and 550 in ARA Control. All this has been done by a group of dedicated supporter that never exceeded 20/30 in number while exceeding in intelligence, vision and energy. The 51 full I.A.M. members in Turkey can really be proud of the work done but we cannot rest on our successes. CAT 2009 will introduce new concepts, new systems and hopefully will accelerate the expansion of RoadCraft in this country.
Paolo Volpara, thank you for your explanations about CAT Training and CAT Course 2009.
Note from Paolo to CAT2009 Delegates
Dear Friends and Riders,
The three days of CAT on-road training and pre-test have been a great personal experience and I would like to thank all of you for the participation and for the contribution.
The CAT weekend was, in my opinion, a great demonstration of the “body and soul” of One More Mile Riders Group: deep friendship and prompt support of each other, dedication to learning, solid passion for biking and a deep fun.
Engin, Omer and Ugur proved to be the valid Observers that we all expected and all the people who behind the scene supported the organization must be personally thanked: Yigit, Robert, David, Suleyman and Bora.
I am pleased to know that the Observers decided to qualify all of you for the final “I.A.M Observer Test”: the final result is encouraging and reward your dedication.
The positive or negative outcome of the final test should not be your main preoccupation: being in this group is already, in my opinion, a superb experience, the work that you placed in the program makes you better. Thanks from my soul for being the valid testimonies of OMM Spirit
Paolo
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