News: 2008-2009

National Coach Apprenticeship Program

(February 19, 2009) – 16 Skate Canada coaches participated in a National Coach Apprenticeship Program for the new NCCP Competition-Development coaching context for the first time in January at the 2009 BMO Canadian Figure Skating Championships in Saskatoon.

The purpose of the program is to enable coaches in the competitive stream, who have not yet attended a national championships with their skaters, an opportunity to come prepared, as the coach, and for their athletes.

The sessions were facilitated by World and Olympic coach, Michelle Leigh. Guest coaches included, Manon Perron, Lee Barkell, Richard Gauthier, Joanne Mcleod and Doug Leigh.

“I really enjoyed the apprenticeship program and having the opportunity to listen to the five best coaches in Canada was invaluable. Not only did they share their secrets but they also shared with us their struggles. All five of them had the same key ingredients to their success and I found this incredibly helpful at my next competition, Junior Nationals. It gave me the confidence to push harder, never sacrifice my integrity and to be comfortable being uncomfortable,” said National Coach Apprenticeship Program participant Deena Beacom.

A wide variety of topics and discussions was covered on-site. The main focus was on performance preparation for competitive athletes. The sessions included the observation of practices and events, competition planning (pre-comp, comp and post-comp), mental and physical preparation, strategies and tactics using CPC, travel logistics, planning on-site practices, etc.

Skate Canada is proud to support our coaches at all levels and look forward to bringing more learning opportunities through coach driven initiatives like this one.

Participants (back row): Isabelle Cayer, Skate Canada, Shauna Klettberg (SK), David Czerniak (SK), Alicia Hubbard (SK), Cara Paicu (SK), Angela Mann (AB), Joanne Guppy (SK), Nina Furukawa (AB), Matt Willis (BC), Jody James (MB), Doug Leigh and Lee Barkell – guest coaches.

Front Row: Deena Beacom (BC), Michelle Leigh (Facilitator), Pam Knelsen (SK), Cynthia Tymoruski (SK), Monica Johnston (EO), Joline Bowditch (SK), Gisele Sutherland (MB), Trinette Goarley (EO)