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While attention is centred on the success of sports stars, coaches who are directors behind the scene play a crucial role in leading athletes to a successful path. Nurturing an athlete is not a short-term task but involves a strategic methodology that takes years of time. Is there any secret behind the success?

Here is a valuable opportunity to learn from renowned Olympic medal winning coaches from Australia, Mainland China and Hong Kong who will share their successful stories and experience of bringing up the Olympic stars at the 13th Hongkong Bank Foundation Elite Coaches Seminar cum Coaching Directors Forum to be held between 2 and 3 December at the Hong Kong Sports Institute.

It turned the scene around in Athletics when Liu Xiang crossed the finish line, being the first Chinese to win an Olympic gold medal in the 110m hurdles at the Athens Olympics. Sun Haiping, coach of Liu, will share with us Liu's path to victory and his training methodology.

Chinese volleyball team was in the doldrums for 20 years. It is the merit of Chen Zhonghe, China women's volleyball team coach, who led the team to claim the 2003 World Champion with 11 straight wins. Chen also managed the team with a gold medal at the 2004 Athens Games to reclaim the Olympic crown. He will share with us the successful story and his methodology in team building.

Our Hong Kong representative, the nine-time Hongkong Bank Foundation Coach of the Year Awards holder, Rene Appel, who led Lee Lai-shan to win a gold medal in windsurfing at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, will speak about his secrets to success and the training plans for the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Australian Glenn Beringen is the coach of Petria Thomas. He successfully brought Petria back from adversity to the Olympic success with gold medal in the women's 100m butterfly and silver medal in the 200m butterfly at the 2004 Athens Olympics. He will tell us how he assisted Petria to overcome adversity and led her to success at the Seminar.

Jointly organised by the Hong Kong Coaching Committee (HKCC) and the All-China Sports Federation with the sponsorship from the Hongkong Bank Foundation, the theme of this year's Seminar is "Quest for Excellence - Olympic Gold Medal Coaches in the Spotlight". Topics of the Seminar include:

"From Adversity to Ecstasy" Glenn Beringen, Performance Development Coordinator, Swimming SA, Australia

"Striving for Excellence" Sun Haiping, Deputy Chief Coach, China National Athletics Team, China

"Windsurfing with the Elites" Rene Appel, National Coach, Hong Kong, China Windsurfing Team, Hong Kong

"Volleying the Team Synergy" Chen Zhonghe, Chief Coach, China National Women's Volleyball Team, China

For details of the Seminar and enrolment form, please visit HKCC's website on www.hkcoaching.com.