Coaching in any form requires relationship building, knowledge transfer, and passion, all of which can be difficult to foster over any single season, never mind over a pandemic plagued one punctuated by the postponement of the Greater Vernon 2022 BC Winter Games. However, the BC Games Coach Mentorship program found a means to “reimagine” its delivery and achieve the all-important coach development connection.
A partnership between the BC Games Society, viaSport, and the Canadian Sport Institute – Pacific (CSI-Pacific), the BC Games Coach Mentorship Program provides Provincial Sport Organizations (PSOs) with the opportunity to benefit from a targeted coach development structure, centred around the BC Winter or BC Summer Games. Lead by viaSport’s Emily Vickery and Master Mentor Coach Kurt Innes, of CSI-Pacific, the program aims to build coaching capacity across the BC sport system, leveraging the unique coaching experience of a multi-sport games. The coming together of coaches from various sports, representing their zone team, rather than their club, along with the added responsibility of team supervision give coaches the experiences to move along the pathway to higher levels, like the Canada Games. The program is structured around the needs of each sport and is intended to leave behind a coach mentorship model for future coaches to benefit from.
Eight Coach Mentors from across seven PSOs took part in this year’s BC Winter Games edition of the program, which involved a myriad of rollout components including PSO driven applications, welcome webinar, NCCP Mentorship Education module, and a series of one-on-one goal setting sessions. In lieu of the postponed 2022 BC Winter Games, participants gathered for a virtual coaching forum, facilitating valuable knowledge sharing, particularly pertaining to how coaches maintained athlete development and progression despite the challenges brought on by a sport season unlike any other.
“I was excited to work with this amazing group of coaches and see their confidence and competence as senior coaches grow. They are now exposed to a coach mentorship model that can be applied to a variety of coaches in various sports” said Kurt Innes, Master Mentor Coach.
This year’s BC Winter Games Coach Mentorship Program benefited from the participation of some outstanding coaches, such as Biathlon BC’s Chris Halldorson. To learn more about Chris’s coaching background and his experience with the BC Games Coach Mentorship Program, CLICK HERE.
The BC Games Coach Mentorship program will continue for the Prince George 2022 BC Summer Games
