Swimming Canada and the Canadian Swimming Coaches Association are once again teaming up.
The CSCA Assistant Coach Program offers professional development opportunities for Canadian coaches to develop at the world-class level through hands-on interaction with national teams.
The desired result: better prepared swimmers and coaches.
“As we continue to grow our longstanding partnership with Swimming Canada, we are excited to once again provide funding toward the CSCA Assistant Coach Program,” said CSCA Executive Director Chris Hindmarch-Watson. “Through this program, we are helping to shape the future of Canadian swimming, while also fostering a collaborative environment where aspiring coaching can thrive.
“This initiative embodies our commitment to nurturing talent and enhancing the coaching landscape, ultimately propelling our athletes towards excellence on the international stage.”
The coach or coaches selected for the program will be assigned duties on Swimming Canada teams ranging from monitoring athletes during warm-ups or cool downs, assisting coaches with specific training regimen, as well as assisting in team operations, including the medical and training staff.
CSCA will offer funding towards expenses for these unique opportunities. Based on an application process, Swimming Canada and the CSCA will select the coach(es) to attend the specific initiative. The successful applicant will be expected to report back to the CSCA and its membership about the opportunity in a live video presentation at an agreed upon date and time.
“With this program, CSCA and Swimming Canada will continue to support the development of the coaching community by exposing coaches to international swimming and at the same time using the expertise of the coaches on the team to mentor them,” said Martin Gingras, Swimming Canada national coach (Programming and Coach Development).
“This program aims to develop the next elite coaches in the country.”
The intention is to have participants work with top-flight programs, including both Olympic and Paralympic, and successful candidates will be delegated tasks by either Gingras or National Development Coach Ken McKinnon.
The next opportunity will include attending the 2024 Junior Pan Pacific Championships (as well as the pre-camp) in Canberra, Australia, in August. Applications are due by May 17 and can be found HERE: https://www.cognitoforms.com/CSCA2/_2024CSCAAssistantCoachProgram
“It is very good to work with the CSCA on these opportunities and Swimming Canada provides the mentoring from our technical staff on our teams to make this a very worthwhile experience for the selected coaches,” said Swimming Canada High Performance Director and National Coach John Atkinson.