In early January, Region 3 ran a coaching symposium organized and lead by Chris Lawson. All of the programming was offered free of charge to the coaches and paid for by the Region.
Started when Lawson was the acting Coaching Chair for his region, it was agreed that a budget would be set to support coach development as it was critical for club growth. The amount was established at the Regional Annual General Meeting for the Coaching Chair to organize a program and utilize the budget. As the Region felt that attendees should not be out of pocket for the cost of being a better volunteer and meeting certification standards, the entire weekend was free of charge to coaches registered in Region 3.
The goal of the symposium was to reach all coaches in the region regardless of level so the symposium had a mix of NCCP courses required to move towards certification and special interest sessions requested by coaches to provide PD points and coaches need focused learning.
There were eight sessions offered including 2 NCCP courses which culminated in a total of 370 training hours. Session leaders are listed in parentheses followed by number of attendees.
- NCCP – Designing a Basic Sport Program (Ann Barteaux): 11
- Using Biomechanical Principles to Detect Skill Execution Errors (Chris Lawson): 19
- Effective use of Video in the Practice Environment (Chris Lawson): 24
- Selecting and Training the Setter (Shayne White): 19
- Designing Drills for Maximum Efficiency (Chris Lawson): 26
- Using Data to Direct Training, Develop Game Plans and Make in Match Adjustments (Frank St Denis): 18
- Teaching Through Your Teams Systems (Sean Pellow): 16
- NCCP – Basic Mental Skills (Ann Barteaux): 12
“We would also try to support network building by providing a social opportunity for coaches to connect and share their love of the game,” said Lawson. “Additionally this year, an online resource centre was created to provide access for coaches to some of the symposium materials after the weekend.”
Prior to the pandemic, Lawson states the goal was to have two coach development weekends a season. One on the weekend after Labour Day just prior to club tryouts so coaches would have the opportunity to apply the learning all season. The second in early January just after the holiday break and before competitions start up again.
“This timing is great because coaches who have been training since September may have a lot of questions or have recognized areas where they need additional information,” he adds.
Moving forward, it is the hope of the clubs in the region that funding for these coach development initiatives will continue with the ideal of running programs at two different locations in the region a year, every year.