He invited me to come study with him in Italy; however, finances and logistics did not permit it at the time. That would surely have been an incredible experience.
Dr. Verkhoshansky expressed his frustration on more than one occasion to me, actually we commiserated, regarding the large amount of western coaches who are uninformed. These communications always took place in the context of our agreement that there are no curricula in the US that adequately prepare individuals to technically or physically prepare athletes.
Vladimir Issurin and I shared a short plane flight together following the seminar we both spoke at in 2007. Interestingly, he assumed I was a Ph.D. or M.S. and when I told him that I had a B.A in Music Performance (Jazz) he was befuddled.
I then went on to explain how I felt fortunate to have been self-educated and that it was my feeling that no university in CONUS offered a suitable curriculum relative to my interests.
He mentioned that, regarding English speaking programs and programs in languages that are relatively quick to learn, the Sport Science Institute in Cologne Germany and the Australian Institute of Sport were two institutions that were host to advanced curriculums and many transplanted sport scientists from former communist bloc nations.